BOSTON  AND    ITS   STOR\ 


1630-1915 


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iscZ^ZS 


tf^cZ-Zy//* 


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HONORABLE    JAMES     M.    CURLEY,    MAYOR    OF    BOSTON. 


BOSTON  AND   ITS  STORY 

1630  — 1915 


A  RELATION  PREPARED  BY 

EDWARD  M.  HARTWELL 

Secretary  Statistics  Department 
Chairman 

EDWARD  W.  McGLENEN 

City  Registrar 

EDWARD   O.  SKELTON 

Journalist  and  Historian 

APPOINTED     BY 

His  Honor  JAMES   M.  CURLEY 

Mayor  of  Boston 


tftfSTKUT  HILL.  MASS, 
City  of  b;oston 

PRINTING    DEPARTMENT 
1916 


COPYEIGHT    1916.    ClTT    OF   BOSTON 


53826 


BOSTON    AND    ITS   STORY, 


Boston  has  been  an  important  place  for  more  than  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years.  Its  history  is  intimately  bound 
up  with  that  of  Massachusetts,  of  which  it  is  the  capital, 
and  of  New  England,  of  which  it  has  long  been  the 
metropolis.  It  has  suffered  many  vicissitudes  and  under- 
gone striking  transformations  in  respect  to  territory  and 
topography,  as  well  as  the  form  of  its  government,  but 
from  the  beginning  it  has  been  a  seed-plot  and  nursery 
of  advanced  political  and  social  ideas  and  experiments. 

The  purpose  of  these  pages  is  twofold:  (1)  to  furnish  a 
clue  to  the  history  of  Boston  as  an  individual  com- 
munity that,  owing  to  the  force  of  circumstances  and  the 
spirit  of  its  people,  has  played  a  conspicuous  and  influen- 
tial part  in  the  larger  development  of  Massachusetts,  of 
New  England  and  of  the  nation ;  and  (2)  to  indicate  the 
nature  of  the  events  that  gave  historical  significance  to 
memorable  sites  and  objects  .that  have  survived  the 
ravages  of  time  and  still  excite  interest  and  veneration. 
So  it  is  not  a  history  that  we  present  to  our  readers,  but 
rather  a  relation  or  narrative  concerning  the  development 
of  "a  poor  country  village"  into  a  great  city  of  vast  and 
varied  interests  and  of  commanding  rank. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  attempt  to  recount  with  fulness 
of  detail  all  or  even  most  of  the  deeds  of  which  Bostonians 
are  proud,  or  to  pass  judgment  upon  men  or  measures 
involved  in  controversial  questions  as  to  morals  or  politics 
that  once  seemed  of  vital  moment  and  are  still  capable 
of  arousing  warm  discussion.  Such  matters  are  better 
left  to  technical  historians  and  partisan  pamphleteers. 


4  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

We  conceive  our  relation  as  somewhat  resembling  the 
report  which  Capt.  John  Smith  published  in  1616  on 
his  exploration  in  1614  of  the  coast  of  what  was  then 
generally  known  as  North  Virginia.  "In  this  voyage/' 
he  says,  "I  took  the  description  of  the  coast,  as  well  by 
map  as  writing,  and  called  it  New  England."  His  original 
map  showed  the  trends  of  the  coast  line  from  "Pennobscot 
to  Cape  Cod."  There  appear  also  the  principal  head- 
lands, bays,  river  mouths  and  Indian  villages  along  the 
shore,  together  with  a  few  outstanding  mountains  and 
not  a  few  outlying  islands,  but  the  bulk  of  the  back 
country  is  prudently  left  blank.  In  later  editions  of  the 
map  considerable  portions  back  from  the  shore  contain 
additional  geographical  data,  notably  in  the  region  at  the 
head  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

"New  England,"  says  Smith,  "is  that  part  of  America 
in  the  Ocean  Sea  opposite  to  Nova  Albyon  in  the  South 
Sea,  discovered  by  the  most  memorable  Sir  Francis 
Drake  in  his  voyage  about  the  world.  In  regard  thereto 
this  is  stiled  New  England,  being  in  the  same  latitude. 
New  France,  off  it  is  Northward;  Southward  is  Virginia, 
and  all  the  adjoining  Continent,  with  New  Granado, 
New  Spaine,  New  Andolosia,  and  the  West  Indies." 

It  is  noteworthy  that  in  the  course  of  three  hundred 
years  all  the  names  enumerated  above  by  the  Admiral 
of  New  England,  save  New  England,  Virginia  and  the 
West  Indies,  have  faded  from  the  map ;  and  also  that 
New  England  remains  the  most  distinctively  individual 
section  of  the  United  States,  which  include  much  of 
Smith's  New  France  and  New  Spaine,  as  well  as  Drake's 
Nova  Albyon  (California) . 

Smith's  map  is  still  of  interest  not  only  because  it  was 
the  first,  and  for  years  the  standard,  map  of  New  Eng- 


The  Godfathek  of  New  England.  5 

land,  but  also  because  we  find  on  it  a  spot  named  "  Bos- 
ton," by  King  Charles  I.,  who  was  Prince  of  Wales  when 
Smith  made  humble  suit  that  he  "  would  please  to  change 
their  Barbarous  names,  for  such  English,  as  Posterity  may 
say,  Prince  Charles  was  their  Godfather."  So  it  was  a 
Stuart  Prince  who  confirmed  Smith's  choice  of  New 
England  as  against  the  names  Nusconcus,  Canaday, 
Pemaquidia  and  Norumbega  (all  of  which  were  then 
current)  and  substituted  English  for  Indian  names  on 
the  original  map  dedicated  to  him.  Strange  to  say  it 
was  at  Accomack,  named  Plimouth  by  Prince  Charles, 
that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  laid  out  their  New  Plymouth  in 
1620.  The  name  of  the  Indian  village  of  Accomenticus 
(Agamenticus)  was  changed  to  Boston  in  1616.  Later 
the  Lord  Proprietor  of  that  part  of  Maine  named  it  Gor- 
geana,  about  1641  (after  himself),  and  directed  that  it 
should  be  styled  and  organized  as  a  city  corporation. 
Old  York  in  Maine  is  usually  held  to  contain  the  site  of 
the  Boston  of  1616,  which  as  Gorgeana  in  1641  or  there- 
abouts had  the  first  Mayor  in  New  England. 

Smith's  map  was  frequently  revised  and  republished. 
Its  tenth  state,  issued  in  1635,  shows  two  Bostons,  ours 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Charles  River  and  the  Stuart 
Boston  on  a  bay  east  of  what  is  still  known  as  Mount 
Agamenticus. 

Lest  we  forget  what  we  owe  to  the  Godfather  of  New 
England,  it  may  be  well  to  note  some  sites  whose  names 
commemorate  his  gracious  complaisance.  He  named 
Cape  Ann  in  honor  of  his  mother  and  the  Charles  River 
in  honor  of  himself.  In  honor  of  his  father  he  renamed 
Cape  Cod,  Cape  James,  and  in  honor  of  his  House  he 
gave  the  name  of  Stuard's  Bay  to  what  is  now  known  as 
Cape  Cod  Bay. 


6  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Practically  all  the  Charlestons  and  Charlestowns  in  the 
country  were  named  directly  or  indirectly  for  King  Charles 
I.  or  King  Charles  II.,  while  the  capes  of  Virginia  still 
bear  the  names  that  Smith  on  his  way  to  Jamestown  in 
1607  gave  them  in  honor  of  his  sovereign's  heirs,  Prince 
Charles  and  his  elder  brother,  Prince  Henry. 

In  Massachusetts,  the  County  of  Duke's  County,  incor- 
porated" 1695,  commemorates  the  transfer  of  Martha's 
Vineyard  from  the  Duke  of  York's  Province  to  the  Bay 
Colony. 

Other  Stuart  memorials  are  found  in  the  names  of 
Maryland,  so  called  in  compliment  to  Henrietta  Maria, 
Charles  the  First's  Consort,  and  New  York,  named  for  his 
son  James  II.,  to  whom  as  the  Duke  of  York  the  greater 
part  of  New  Netherland  was  given  by  Charles  II.,  in 
1664,  after  its  seizure  from  the  Dutch. 

Although  the  colonizers  of  Virginia  and  New  England 
suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  the  Stuarts  it  should  be 
remembered  that  it  was  owing  to  their  good  nature  that 
the  first  permanent  English  settlements  were  effected. 

In  Smith's  career  the  changeful  spirit  of  the  promoters 
of  colonization  of  the  English  possessions  in  the  New 
World  is  reflected.  Beginning  as  a  hardy  adventurer 
and  knight-errant,  he  became  first  an  explorer,  then  a 
practical  colonizer  and  then  a  writer  on  the  best  methods 
of  effecting  and  conducting  English  settlements  in  New 
England.  Again  and  again  his  ambition  to  plant  an 
outpost  for  trading  and  fishing  on  the  coast,  which  he 
had  mapped  and  to  which  he  had  given  the  name  it  still 
bears,  was  balked.  In  1631,  the  year  of  his  death,  the 
sometime  Governor  of  Virginia  and  Admiral  of  New 
England  published  his  last  book,  viz.,  " Advertisements 
for  the  inexperienced  Planters  of  New  England,  or  any- 


The  Admiral  of  New  England.  7 

where."  In  it  he  makes  mention  of  the  Brownists 
(Pilgrims)  on  Plymouth  Bay,  which  bay  he  had  visited 
in  1614,  and  of  Mr.  Winthrop's  new  settlement  at  the 
head  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  which  he  had  happily 
characterized  as  "the  Paradise  of  these  parts,"  although 
he  had  never  set  foot  there. 

His  was  the  fate  of  many  another  American  pioneer 
who  came  after  him.  Shortly  before  he  died  he  wrote, 
"But  I  see  those  countries  shared  before  me  by  those 
who  know  them  only  by  my  description." 

Ten  years  before  the  publication  of  Smith's  Descrip- 
tion of  New  England,  the  English  crown  had  adopted  the 
policy  of  actively  promoting  the  colonization  of  those 
parts  of  North  America  which  it  claimed  to  possess  by 
virtue  of  the  discoveries  of  the  Cabots  in  1497  and  1498 
under  the  patronage  of  Henry  VII.  How  little  that 
astute  and  avaricious  potentate  appreciated  the  value 
of  the  continent  discovered  by  the  Cabots  may  be  inferred 
from  an  entry  said  to  have  been  made  in  his  private 
accounts,  viz.,  "To  the  man  that  found  the  new  island, 
£10." 

Although  the  discoveries  of  Columbus  led  many  enter- 
prising seamen  to  set  out  for  the  New  World  in  quest  of 
new  trade  routes  to  the  Orient,  and  incidentally  to  acquire 
new  lands  for  their  royal  patrons,  it  was  not  until  the 
time  of  Queen  Elizabeth  that  the  English  began  to  rival 
the  Spaniards  and  the  French  in  exploration  of  the  New 
World.  The  voyages  then  undertaken  by  Drake  and 
Frobisher  and  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  were  made  under 
authority  of  letters  patent  from  Queen  Elizabeth  to  seek 
and  gain  possession  of  lands  not  hitherto  occupied  by 
some  Christian  power.  The  patent  granted  to  Gilbert 
in  1578,  subsequently  taken  over  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 


8  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

empowered  him  to  discover  and  possess  any  unsettled 
lands  in  North  America.  It  also  granted  a  practical 
monopoly  of  trading  and  planting  in  the  region  north 
of  Florida,  to  which  the  name  of  Virginia  was  given  in 
honor  of  the  "  Virgin  Queen." 

Raleigh  was  essentially  a  prospector  for  mines  and  a 
fortune  hunter,  although  he  vainly  attempted  to  found  a 
settlement  at  Roanoke  Island.  Raleigh  and  his  agents 
did  but  little  exploring.  When  Raleigh  was  sent  to  the 
Tower  in  1603  by  King  James  I.  the  rights  conveyed 
under  his  patent  from  Elizabeth  reverted  to  the  crown. 

Meanwhile,  in  1602,  the  first  noteworthy  exploration 
of  the  coast  of  North  Virginia  was  made  by  Capt. 
Bartholomew  Gosnold,  without  Raleigh's  permission,  in 
the  "Concord."  Gosnold's  patrons  were  the  Earl  of 
Southampton  and  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  military  gov- 
ernor of  Plymouth,  who  were  anxious  to  inform  themselves 
as  to  the  nature  and  resources  of  the  region  in  question. 
Gosnold's  bark,  with  thirty-two  persons  on  board, 
sailed  from  Falmouth  on  March  26,  1602.  On  May  14 
they  made  what  are  now  known  as  Cape  Porpoise  and 
the  Nubble  off  Cape  Neddick  on  the  coast  of  Maine. 
At  the  Nubble,  which  Gosnold  named  Savage  Rock, 
Indians  in  "a  Biscay  shallop"  were  met  with.  One  of 
them,  who  wore  Christian  clothes  and  could  speak  a 
little  fisherman's  English,  described  the  coast  with  the 
aid  of  "a  piece  of  chalk."  The  next  day  the  party  took 
"great  store  of  cod"  off  "a  mighty  headland,"  which 
Gosnold  named  Cape  Cod, —  the  first  place  in  Massa- 
chusetts to  receive  an  English  name. 

Skirting  the  coast  to  the  southward  they  landed,  May 
21,  on  an  island,  to  which  the  name  of  Martha's  Vineyard 
was  given.     Gay  Head  was  visited  and  named  Dover 


GOSNOLD    AT    CUTTYHUNK,    1602.  9 

Cliff.  After  touching  at  Dartmouth  on  the  mainland 
they  landed,  May  28,  at  Cuttyhunk,  the  most  westerly 
of  the  Elizabeth  Islands. 

The  party  stayed  at  Cuttyhunk  till  June  17,  busily 
engaged  in  cutting  sassafras  wood  and  cedar  logs,  plant- 
ing wheat,  barley,  oats  and  peas  to  test  the  soil,  and  in 
building  a  small  fort  on  an  islet  within  a  pond.  Gosnold 
planned  to  make  his  headquarters  there  with  twelve  men 
for  six  months  so  that  he  might  explore  further.  But 
on  June  8  it  was  found  that  they  had  barely  six  weeks' 
provisions  instead  of  enough  for  six  months.  So  the  first 
English  foothold  in  New  England  had  to  be  abandoned. 
On  June  18  the  Concord  bore  away  from  Nomans- 
land  for  England,  which  was  reached  after  a  voyage 
of  thirty-five  days.  Their  cargo  of  sassafras  and  cedar 
yielded  a  profit,  although  Raleigh  demurred  at  their 
selling  it  all  at  once  lest  the  market  should  be  depressed. 

In  1603  Capt.  Martin  Pring  came  out  to  North 
Virginia  in  command  of  the  ship  "Speedwell"  and  the 
bark  "  Discoverer."  His  party  numbered  fifty-four  men. 
The  venture  for  which  £1,000  had  been  subscribed  by 
merchants  and  "the  chief  est  inhabitants"  of  Bristol 
had  Raleigh's  permission.  Their  first  landfall  was  among 
the  islands  of  Penobscot  Bay.  Pring  explored  the  Saco 
River  for  five  miles  from  its  mouth;  skirted  the  mouths 
of  the  Kennebunk,  York  and  Piscataqua  Rivers;  then  he 
"bore  into  the  Great  Gulf  which  Capt.  Gosnold  had 
overshot"  the  year  before,  i.  e.,  he  entered  the  lower 
reaches  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  discovered  the  present 
Plymouth  Harbor,  which  he  named  Whitson  Bay. 

He  loaded  the  Discoverer  with  sassafras  and  des- 
patched her  to  England  about  the  end  of  July.  Mean- 
while, like  Gosnold,  he  had  succeeded  in  getting  grain, 


10  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

peas  and  beans  to  grow.  He  was  visited  by  many 
Indians,  concerning  whose  characteristics  and  disposition 
he  made  a  full  and  rather  favorable  report.  On  August 
8  or  9  the  Speedwell  sailed  for  England,  which  was 
reached  after  an  absence  of  six  months. 

Pierre  du  Guast,  Sieur  de  Monts,  was  appointed  Lieu- 
tenant-General  of  Acadia  by  the  King  of  France  and  set 
forth  with  two  vessels  to  establish  a  colony  in  New  France. 
Samuel  de  Champlain  accompanied  him.  They  cruised 
along  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  built  a  settle- 
ment on  St.  Croix  Island  (August  8,  1604),  in  the  St. 
Croix  River,  which  is  now  the  boundary  between  Maine 
and  New  Brunswick.  Champlain,  exploring  farther  to 
the  westward,  discovered  the  island  of  Mount  Desert,  gave 
it  the  name  it  still  bears,  and  then  sailed  up  the  Penobscot 
as  far  as  the  site  of  Bangor. 

On  June  18,  1605,  the  De  Monts  expedition  set  sail 
from  St.  Croix  "in  quest  of  a  place  better  adapted  for  an 
abode  and  with  a  better  temperature."  Champlain  was 
in  command  as  pilot.  The  party  numbered  some  thirty 
persons.  Coasting  westward  leisurely,  they  anchored 
off  Thatcher's  island,  Cape  Ann,  in  the  evening  of  July  15. 
On  the  16th  Champlain  landed  on  the  beach  near  Land's 
End.     In  his  journal  he  states: 

"We  named  this  place  Island  Cape.  I  made  the 
savages  understand  as  well  as  I  could,  that  I  desired  them 
to  show  me  the  course  of  the  shore.  After  I  had  drawn 
with  a  crayon  the  bay  and  the  Island  Cape  where  we 
were,  with  the  same  crayon  they  drew  the  outline  of 
another  bay,  which  they  represented  as  very  large;  here 
they  placed  six  pebbles  at  equal  distances  apart,  giving 
me  to  understand  by  this,  that  these  signs  represented 
as  many  chiefs  and  tribes.  .  .  .  Continuing  our  course 
to  the  west-southwest,  we  saw  numerous  islands  on  one 


Champlain  Visits  Boston  Harbor.  11 

side  and  the  other.  Having  sailed  seven  or  eight  leagues 
we  anchored  near  an  inland  (in  Boston  Harbor)  whence 
we  observed  many  smokes  along  the  shore  and  many 
savages  running  up  to  see  us.  Sieur  de  Monts  sent  two 
or  three  men  in  a  canoe  to  them,  to  whom  he  gave  some 
knives  and  paternosters  to  present  to  them.  .  .  .  All 
along  the  shore  there  is  a  great  deal  of  land  cleared  up 
and  planted  with  Indian  corn.  The  country  is  very 
pleasant  and  agreeable,  and  there  is  no  lack  of  fine  trees. 
...  I  observed  in  the  bay  all  the  savages  had  described 
to  me  at  Island  Cape.  We  passed  by  some  islands  cov- 
ered with  wood.  There  is,  moreover,  in  this  bay  a  very 
broad  river  (the  Charles)  which  we  named  River  du  Guast. 
It  stretches,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  towards  the  Iroquois,  a 
nation  in  open  warfare  with  the  Montagnais,  who  live 
on  the  great  river  St.  Lawrence. " 

On  July  17  Champlain  sailed  out  of  Boston  Harbor, 
skirting  the  south  shore.  Entering  Plymouth  Harbor, 
they  saw  cabins  and  gardens  of  the  natives,  who  flocked 
to  the  shore  and  danced  for  them.  Champlain  went 
ashore  and  was  cordially  treated  by  the  natives.  From 
Plymouth,  Champlain  circled  the  bay  to  the  southward 
and,  rounding  Cape  Cod,  which  he  named  Cape  Blanc, 
entered  Nauset  Harbor,  where  a  landing  party  went  to 
obtain  water.  From  Nauset  the  party  returned  to  St. 
Croix,  and  De  Monts  loaded  his  barks  with  the  frames 
of  the  houses  and  transported  them  to  Port  Royal,  twenty- 
five  leagues  distant.  In  1608  Champlain  effected  at 
Quebec  the  first  permanent  settlement  in  New  France. 

It  would  appear  that  no  Englishman  entered  Boston 
Bay  prior  to  1621,  when  it  was  visited  by  a  party  from 
Plymouth  under  command  of  Myles  Standish. 

In  1605  Capt.  George  Waymouth  came  out  to  New 
England  in  the  "Archangel"  in  the  interest  of  certain 
promoters  who  were  considering  that  region  as  a  field  in 


12  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

which  to  make  investments.  Waymouth's  explorations, 
which  lasted  barely  a  month,  were  chiefly  confined  to  the 
St.  George's  River  and  the  islands  between  it  and  Pema- 
quid.  He  set  up  a  cross  on  Allen's  Island  May  29  and 
landed  June  13,  at  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Thomas- 
ton,  Maine.  Three  days  later  he  sailed  homeward,  carry- 
ing five  natives  that  he  had  kidnapped  from  Pemaquid. 
The  memory  of  this  outrage  rankled  long  in  the  breasts 
of  the  redmen,  who  later  on  were  much  more  friendly  to 
the  French,  who  proved  better  neighbors  than  the  English. 

In  the  summer  of  1606,  Pring  made  a  second  voyage  to 
New  England  and  carefully  explored  the  rivers  and 
harbors  from  the  Penobscot  to  the  Kennebec.  He 
made  a  map  which  was  highly  praised  by  Sir  F.  Gorges, 
who  took  an  extraordinary  interest  in  all  that  related 
to  North  Virginia.  Unfortunately,  no  trace  of  Pring's 
map  has  come  down  to  us.  This  report  of  Pring  is  said 
to  have  determined  the  Plymouth  Company  to  plant  a 
colony  at  Sagadahoc  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec 
River. 

In  1606  a  company  of  associates,  to  whom  Raleigh  had 
assigned  his  trading  privileges,  petitioned  James  I.  for  a 
charter.  The  charter  was  issued  April  10,  1606,  and  a 
stock  company  was  formed  for  the  establishment  of  two 
colonies  in  Virginia.  The  company  comprised  two 
divisions,  known  respectively  from  their  headquarters 
as  the  London  and  Plymouth  companies.  The  former 
was  granted  jurisdiction  between  34°  and  38°  north 
latitude,  and  the  latter  between  41°  and  45°.  The  inter- 
vening territory,  i.  e.}  38°-41°,  was  to  go  to  whichever 
company  should  first  establish  a  permanent  colony.  The 
king  reserved  the  power  to  nominate  a  resident  council 
in  each  colony,  while  a  council  having  its  seat  in  England 


First  Settlement  in  New  England,  1607.       13 

was  given  general  supervision  of  both.  A  more  liberal 
charter  was  granted  in  1609,  making  the  company  virtually 
independent  and  governed  by  a  representative  body. 
The  first  permanent  English  settlement  in  America  was 
effected  at  Jamestown  in  1607  by  the  agents  of  the 
London  Company,  among  whom  were  Capt.  John  Smith 
and  Capt.  Gosnold. 

Sir  John  Popham,  Lord  Chief  Justice,  like  Sir  F.  Gorges, 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Plymouth  Company, 
which  undertook  the  planting  of  a  colony  at  Sagadahoc, 
on  the  Kennebec  River.  Associated  with  George  Popham, 
who  was  styled  President  of  the  colony,  was  Capt.  Raleigh 
Gilbert,  a  kinsman  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  Two  ships, 
the  "Gift  of  God"  and  the  "Mary  and  John/'  sailed  from 
England  on  June  1,  1607.  They  arrived  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Kennebec  on  August  18,  having  explored  Allen's 
Island  and  other  points  during  the  preceding  fortnight. 
The  patent  and  the  ordinances  prescribed  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  colony  having  been  read,  all  hands  fell  on 
the  20th  to  building  a  fort.  Fifteen  houses,  a  chapel  and 
a  storehouse  were  also  built. 

The  winter  was  severe.  President  Popham  died  before 
spring.  Gilbert,  who  assumed  charge,  was  harsh  in  his 
treatment  of  the  Indians,  who  became  hostile.  In  May, 
1608,  word  came  that  Sir  John  Popham,  the  principal 
financial  backer  of  the  colony,  had  died.  Gilbert  returned 
to  England  in  the  fall  of  1608  in  order  to  lay  claim  to  the 
estate  of  Sir  John  Gilbert,  who  had  died  in  July.  So  the 
remainder  of  the  colonists  promptly  abandoned  the 
Sagadahoc  settlement  and  returned  to  England.  Their 
reasons  for  so  doing  are  noteworthy,  viz. : 

"No  mines  discovered,  nor  hope  thereof  being  the  main 
intended  benefit  to  uphold  this  plantation,  and  the  fear 


14  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

that  all  other  winters  would  prove  like  the  first,  the  com- 
pany by  no  means  would  stay  any  longer  in  the  country." 

Gorges  wrote  a  relation  of  the  voyages  to  Sagadahoc, 
in  which  the  term  "New  England"  appears, —  probably 
its  first  use. 

The  dismal  report  of  the  Popham  colonists  respecting 
the  winter  climate  of  North  Virginia  chilled  the  ardor  of 
English  speculators  and  explorers  so  that  there  were  no 
more  summer  excursions  to  that  coast  until  1614,  when 
Smith  undertook  to  find  mines  and  kill  whales  for  his 
employers  —  certain  merchants  of  Bristol.  Smith  did 
not  really  expect  to  find  gold  and  soon  gave  up  the  hunt 
for  whales  and  fell  to  gathering  data  for  his  map  and 
relation,  while  most  of  his  shipmates  were  fishing  for  cod. 

Smith  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  future  of  New  England 
and  hazarded  his  life  and  fortune  towards  realizing  his 
hopes.  But  he  frankly  declared  that  he  was  not  so 
simple  as  to  suppose  that  any  other  motive  than  riches 
would  "ever  erect  there  a  commonwealth  or  draw  company 
from  their  ease  and  humours  at  home  to  stay  in  New 
England." 

It  was  the  staying  qualities  of  the  Pilgrims  who  founded 
New  Plymouth  in  the  winter  of  1620-21  that  gave  a  new 
impetus  to  colonial  ventures  in  New  England.  The 
economic  success  of  the  feeble  colony  at  Plymouth  seems 
to  have  caused  what  would  now  be  called  "a  sensation" 
in  England.  At  any  rate,  they  proved  that  English  men 
and  women  could  make  a  living  in  New  England.  In  the 
midst  of  their  struggles  some  of  their  brethren  in  England 
wrote  thus  to  them  —  "Let  it  not  be  grievous  unto  you 
that  you  have  been  instrumental  to  break  the  ice  for 
others.     The  honor  shall  be  yours  to  the  world's  end."    ■ 


The  Mayflowek  Pilgrims,  1620.  15 

"It  was  left,"  says  John  Fiske,  "for  religious  enthusiasm 
to  achieve  what  commercial  enterprise  had  failed  to 
accomplish." 

In  the  little  town  of  Scrooby,  in  Nottinghamshire, 
resided  a  body  of  people  who,  during  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, were  known  as  Separatists  because  of  their  religious 
belief.  They  disputed  the  authority  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  declaring  that  it  was  not  a  true  church  and  that 
it  was  sinful  to  attend  its  worshiping  assemblies  and 
listen  to  the  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God  therein.  The 
severe  laws  passed  by  Parliament  against  those  who 
refused  to  accept  the  supremacy  of  the  National  Church 
so  harassed  the  Separatists  that  in  1608  they  went  to 
Holland.  In  Leyden,  where  they  settled,  they  secured 
employment  and  their  number  was  augmented  until 
their  membership  amounted  to  some  three  hundred. 
They  were  happy  and  contented  in  their  new  home  until 
upon  the  horizon  of  Europe  began  to  loom  the  dark  clouds 
of  the  coming  Thirty  Years'  War,  when,  too,  the  waning 
industries  of  Leyden  imperiled  their  employment  and 
their  sufferings  began.  Then  the  question  of  removal  was 
agitated.  Representations  being  made  to  the  crown, 
permission  was  granted  to  the  company  to  make  a  settle- 
ment upon  the  crown  lands  in  Virginia.  Arrangements 
were  perfected  with  the  Merchant  Adventurers'  Com- 
pany of  London  to  fit  out  a  ship  to  convey  them  to 
Virginia  and  to  furnish  them  with  means  of  sustenance 
for  one  year  after  they  had  reached  their  new  home. 

The  terms  presented  to  them  caused  great  discussion 
and  a  majority  voted  against  accepting  them;  but  the 
minority,  being  large,  listened  to  their  leader,  William 
Brewster,  and  loyally  stood  by  him  and  agreed  to  accom- 
pany him  to  the  new  land.     On  July  1,  1620,  an  agree- 


16  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

merit  was  drawn  up  and  approved,  whereby  for  seven 
years  everyone  who  went  should  have  equal  interest  in 
everything,  and  the  undertaking  be  carried  on  for  the 
common  good,  until,  at  the  expiration  of  that  time,  all 
should  be  divided  between  the  Adventurers  and  the 
Pilgrims. 

From  Delfthaven,  July  23,  the  Pilgrims  sailed  in  the  ship 
"  Speedwell,"  for  Southampton  where  the  "Mayflower" 
met  them.  They  were  transferred  to  that  ship,  and  sailed 
from  Southampton  August  15  for  Plymouth,  England, 
and  on  September  16  the  historic  Mayflower,  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  tons,  with  one  hundred  and  two 
Pilgrims  on  board  and  twenty  boys  and  eight  girls, 
children  of  the  emigrants,  set  out  for  the  new  world. 

The  crown  authorities  had  granted  them  permission 
to  go  to  what  is  now  New  Jersey,  with  the  intention  that 
the  Pilgrims  should  make  their  settlement  at  that  part 
which  was  near  to  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Dutch, 
but  not  in  direct  contact  with  them.  The  voyage  was 
long  and  stormy,  and  the  Mayflower  was  driven  far 
from  her  course.  On  the  sixty-seventh  day,  November  21, 
she  cast  anchor  in  Provincetown  Harbor. 

During  the  voyage  those  who  had  been  sent  over  by 
the  London  Company  and  who  were  not  in  sympathy 
with  the  religious  views  of  the  Pilgrims  endeavored  to 
sow  the  seeds  of  discord  and  were  at  times  turbulent. 
Governor  Winslow  in  his  Journal  says : 

"It  was  thought  good  there  should  be  an  Association 
and  agreement  that  we  should  combine  together  in  one 
body,  and  to  submit  to  such  government  and  governors 
as  we  should  by  common  consent  agree  to  make  and 
choose,  and  set  our  hands  to  this  that  follows  word  for 
word." 


HE     MAYFLOWER     COMPACT. 


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TRANSLATION    OF    THE    ABOVE. 

In  ye  name  of  God,  Amen.  We  whose  names  are  underwriten,  the  loyall  sub- 
jects of  our  dread  soveraigne  Lord,  King  James,  by  ye  grace  of  God,  of  Great 
Britaine,  Franc,  &  Ireland  king,  defender  of  ye  faith,  &c,  haveing  undertaken, 
for  ye  glorie  of  God,  and  advaneemente  of  ye  Christian  faith,  and  honour  of  our 
king  &  countrie,  a  voyage  to  plant  ye  first  colonie  in  ye  Northerne  parts  of  Vir- 
ginia, doe  by  these  presents  solemnly  &  mutualy  in  ye  presence  of  God,  and  one 
of  another,  covenant  &  combine  our  selves  togeather  into  a  civill  body  politick, 
for  our  better  ordering  &  preservation  &  furtherance  of  ye  ends  aforesaid;  and 
by  vertue  hearof  to  enacte,  constitute,  and  frame  such  just  &  equall  lawes,  ordi- 
nances, acts,  constitutions,  &  offices,  from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most 
meete  &  convenient  for  ye  generall  good  of  ye  Colonie,  unto  which  we  promise  all 
due  submission  and  obedience.  In  witnes  wherof  we  have  hereunder  subscribed 
our  names  at  Cap-Codd  ye  11.  of  November,  in  ye  year  of  ye  raigne  of  our  sov- 
eraigne lord,  King  James,  of  England,  France,  &  Ireland  ye  eighteenth,  and  of 
Scotland  ye  fiftie  fourth.     An0:  Dom.  1620. 


The  Mayflower  Compact.  17 

Winslow's  reference  is  to  the  compact  which  was 
drawn  up  in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  November  11, 
(old  style),  the  night  before  the  first  landing  at  Province- 
town.  Thus  the  founders  of  Plymouth  met  a  disquiet- 
ing situation,  and  provided  for  the  civil  government  of 
their  enterprise.  It  was  the  first  instrument  issued  in 
America  that  embodied  the  principle  of  consent  on  the 
part  of  the  members  of  the  community. 

Concerning  the  compact,  John  Quincy  Adams  declared : 

"  This  is  perhaps  the  only  instance  in  human  history 
of  that  positive,  original,  social  compact  which  specula- 
tive philosophers  have  imagined  as  the  only  legitimate 
source  of  government.  Here  was  a  unanimous  and  per- 
sonal assent  by  all  the  individuals  of  the  community  to 
the  association  by  which  they  became  a  nation." 

Possibly  this  is  the  most  fulsome  expression  of  the  views 
held  by  the  older  writers  as  to  the  political  significance  of 
the  Mayflower  compact. 

John  Carver  was  chosen  Governor.  William  Brew- 
ster, although  not  ordained,  was  chosen  Ruling  Elder,  the 
spiritual  head  of  the  company.  Myles  Standish  was 
made  captain  and  military  commander. 

The  morning  after  the  signing  of  the  compact  the  first 
landing  on  New  England  soil  by  the  Pilgrims  was  made  by 
Capt.  Myles  Standish  and  sixteen  men.  Exploration  of 
the  territory  within  a  few  miles,  during  which  signs  of 
Indians  were  observed,  convinced  them  that  the  location 
was  undesirable.  Upon  returning  aboard  ship  it  was 
decided  that  Standish  and  his  men  should  take  a  small 
shallop  and  cruise  along  the  coast.  This  was  done,  and 
the  first  night's  stop  was  at  what  is  now  Wellfleet.  Here 
they  were  attacked  by  Indians,  who  fled  at  the  first  fire 
from  Standish 's  men. 


18  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Proceeding  further  along  the  coast  they  finally  reached 
an  island  and  the  sight  of  land  a  short  distance  away  led 
them  to  sound  the  depth  of  water  in  the  harbor.  Finding 
it  sufficient  for  ships  of  good  draught,  they  made  the 
historic  landing  December  21,  1620  —  and  New  England 
was  born!  Five  days  later  the  Mayflower  sailed  into 
the  harbor  with  the  company  of  Pilgrims,  and  cast- 
ing anchor  the  historic  voyage  was  ended  and  their  new- 
world  life  began. 

As  their  eager  feet  touched  first  upon  that  revered 
granite  rock  they  gave  to  it  a  deep  consecration.  Then 
and  there  began  a  new  era  in  America's  great  experiment! 
There  landed  that  day  an  independent  church,  claiming 
a  direct  connection  with  Christ,  as  did  the  church  in  the 
beginning,  but  without  human  link  or  mediation.  These 
people  were  peaceful,  affectionate,  industrious,  moderate 
in  government,  and  just,  one  to  another.  Such  were  the 
people  who,  as  they  progressed,  enacted  laws,  fundamental 
but  mild,  which  to-day  serve  to  control  in  part  our  great 
country.  To  them  we  owe  the  first  law  for  trial  by  jury, 
for  registry  of  lands  in  public  books,  of  taxation,  of  the 
first  customs'  order,  and  of  the  first  laws  enacted  in 
America  providing  for  an  equitable  distribution  of 
property  among  widows  and  children. 

It  was  on  December  26,  1620,  just  one  hundred  and 
two  days  from  its  departure  from  Plymouth,  England 
(by  a  singular  coincidence  there  were  one  hundred  and 
two  Pilgrims  aboard),  when  the  Mayflower  dropped 
anchor  in  Plymouth  Harbor.  Immediately  they  planned 
for  their  settlement.  A  street  called  Ley  den  was  laid 
out,  the  original  plan  of  which  is  still  in  existence.  Lots 
of  ground  to  build  upon  were  set  out  to  various  men, 
but    first    they    erected    a    "Common    House."      That 


The  Pilgrims  at  New  Plymouth.  19 

first  winter  at  Plymouth  was  most  disastrous  to  the 
Pilgrims,  one-half  their  number  dying  from  lung  troubles. 
The  survivors  were  haunted  by  the  ever-present  fear  of 
an  attack  from  the  Indians,  but  these  fears  were  need- 
less. The  Indian  Samoset  came  among  them  giving 
evidence  of  peaceful  intentions,  and  a  few  days  later 
returned  with  Chief  Squanto  and  Grand  Chief  Massasoit, 
with  whom  they  made  a  treaty  of  peace. 

Upon  the  death  of  Governor  Carver,  in  1621,  they 
elected  William  Bradford  as  Governor.  This  year  the 
ship  " Fortune"  arrived,  bringing  stores  and  thirty-five 
emigrants,  followed  directly  by  the  "Anne,"  with 
thirty-one.  Between  this  date  and  1629  there  arrived 
a  sufficient  number  of  immigrants  to  make  the  total 
number  of  Pilgrims  about  three  hundred.  And  this  was 
the  greatest  number  that  gathered  at  Plymouth  under 
their  adventure. 

The  principal  men  of  Plymouth,  under  whose  direc- 
tion affairs  were  conducted,  were  William  Bradford, 
William  Brewster,  Edward  Winslow,  Myles  Standish 
and  Isaac  Allerton.  The  religious  instructions  of  the 
colony  were  imparted  by  Brewster,  the  Ruling  Elder,  and 
it  was  not  until  1629  that  they  had  an  ordained  minister, 
the  Rev.  Ralf  Smith. 

Between  1630  and  1633  many  of  the  colonists  began 
to  seek  homes  outside  of  Plymouth.  There  were  removals 
to  Duxbury,  Marshfield,  Eastham,  Scituate,  Taunton, 
Yarmouth,  Dartmouth  and  other  places.  About  1634 
people  from  the  Bay  Colony  began  to  settle  within  the 
domain  of  the  Pilgrims  and  thereafter,  with  few  excep- 
tions, it  was  to  the  arrival  of  such  people  that  the  increase 
of  the  colony  from  without  was  due. 

When  the  General  Court  of  Deputies  from  the  several 


20  Boston  and  Its  Stoky. 

towns  was  established  in  1639  so  large  had  been  the 
immigration  from  Massachusetts  Bay  that  six  towns 
or  settlements  besides  Plymouth  were  represented.  As 
the  years  passed,  the  people  of  both  colonies  gradually 
came  closer  together  until  finally  they  were  merged  into 
one  people  politically,  but  continued  under  the  wise 
religious  administration  of  Brewster,  who  died  in  1643; 
of  Winslow,  who  left  for  England  in  1646;  and  Bradford, 
who  died  in  1657,  leaving  an  invaluable  account  of  the 
Pilgrims  from  1620  to  1648,  which  is  known  as  Bradford's 
History.  Bradford's  manuscripts  may  be  seen  at  the 
State  House  in  the  State  Library. 

The  success  of  the  Pilgrims  in  maintaining  their  foot- 
hold at  Plymouth  seems  to  have  drawn  the  attention  of 
enterprising  men  in  England  to  the  shores  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay.  Thomas  Weston,  the  agent  and  treasurer 
of  the  adventurers  in  London,  who  had  financed  the 
Plymouth  colonists,  sold  out  his  stock  in  that  venture  and 
set  about  establishing  a  plantation  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Plymouth  on  his  own  account.  In  May,  1622,  his 
advance  agents  arrived  and  purchased  a  site  from  the 
sachem  of  the  Wessagusset  Indians,  on  the  south  shore 
of  the  Bay,  at  a  place  now  known  as  Weymouth.  Two 
months  later  Weston's  colonists,  some  seventy  in  number, 
arrived.  They  seem  to  have  been  ill  selected,  insuffi- 
ciently provisioned,  and  poorly  organized.  The  Plymouth 
people  treated  them  hospitably,  for  many  of  them  were 
ill,  and  helped  them  procure  corn  and  beans  from  the 
natives  to  eke  out  their  supplies.  In  March,  1623,  the 
Wessagusset  Indians  became  threatening,  having  formed 
a  plan  to  destroy  both  the  Plymouth  and  Wessagusset 
settlements. 

Myles  Standish,  with  nine  men,  came  to  their  aid,  slew 


EDWARD     WINSLOW,    GOVERNOR     PLYMOUTH     COLONY. 


The  Old  Planters,  1622-25.  21 

some  Indians  and  put  the  rest  to  flight.  Acting  on  advice 
of  Standish,  who  shared  his  provisions  among  them,  they 
abandoned  their  stockade  and  sailed  away  at  the  end  of 
March  for  Monhegan,  leaving  only  two  of  their  number 
to  repair  to  Plymouth  with  Standish. 

In  1622  Gorges  and  Mason  obtained  a  grant  of  all  the 
land  between  the  Kennebec  and  the  Merrimac.  In  1623 
Robert  Gorges,  son  of  the  indefatigable  Sir  Ferdinando, 
obtained  a  grant  of  some  300  square  miles  on  the  north 
side  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  In  September,  1623,  the 
younger  Gorges,  having  come  over  to  look  after  his 
grant,  took  possession  of  Weston's  abandoned  stockade 
at  Wessagusset,  although  it  was  on  the  South  Shore. 

The  next  spring  Gorges  got  word  from  his  father  that 
it  was  impossible  to  raise  funds  to  further  the  enterprise. 
Accordingly  Gorges  returned  to  England,  leaving  Rev. 
William  Morell,  an  Anglican  clergyman,  in  charge  of  the 
plantation,  where  Samuel  Maverick  had  arrived  meanwhile 
in  the  Gorges'  interest. 

Morell  held  on  till  the  spring  of  1625,  when  he  returned 
to  England.  That  summer,  Captain  Wollaston,  accom- 
panied by  the  picturesque  Thomas  Morton  and  a  band  of 
indented  servants,  set  up  a  plantation  opposite  Wessa- 
gusset on  the  present  Fore  River,  within  the  bounds  of 
what  fourteen  years  later  was  set  off  from  Boston  as  the 
town  of  Braintree. 

Meanwhile,  Maverick  had  begun  a  fortified  house  at 
Winnissimet  (Chelsea)  on  the  north  side  of  the  Bay. 
Rev.  William  Blackstone,  who  had  been  MorelPs  assist- 
ant, repaired  in  1625  to  the  Shawmut  peninsula,  and 
built  him  a  cabin  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  hill  over- 
looking the  present  Boston  Common.  Thus  Blackstone 
became  the  first  white  settler  of  Boston. 


22  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Although  the  settlers  at  Plymouth  concerned  themselves 
mainly  with  agriculture  they  were  not  devoid  of  com- 
mercial enterprise.  Their  leaders,  having  established 
amicable  relations  with  their  Indian  neighbors,  sought 
out  the  savages  at  the  head  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in 
order  that  they  might  trade  with  them  also  for  grain  and 
furs.  As  time  went  on,  the  Pilgrims  established  fishing 
stations  at  Cape  Ann  and  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  and 
built  a  fort  on  the  Connecticut  River,  near  the  site  of 
the  present  Hartford. 

Boston  has  always  owed  much  to  the  natural  advan- 
tages of  its  location.  But  those  advantages  were  not 
revealed  to  English  eyes  until  an  expedition  from  the 
Plymouth  Colony  rounded  the  Shawmut  peninsula  and 
landed  at  Mishawum  in  the  early  fall  of  1621.  In 
September  of  that  year,  Governor  Bradford  sent  ten  men 
in  a  shallop,  under  command  of  Myles  Standish,  on  an 
expedition,  whose  main  purpose  was  to  establish  favor- 
able trade  relations  with  the  Indians  at  the  head  of 
Massachusetts  Bay. 

They  sailed  from  Plymouth  at  midnight  of  Tuesday, 
September  18.  Skirting  the  south  shore  of  the  Bay,  they 
anchored  under  the  lee  of  a  large  island  before  sunset  on 
Wednesday.  They  found  the  island  uninhabited.  It 
was  claimed  by  one  of  the  party  in  the  name  of  David 
Thompson,  then  a  resident  of  Plymouth,  in  England. 
Thompson  took  possession,  afterwards  and  the  island 
still  bears  his  name. 

The  next  morning,  on  crossing  to  Squantum  Head,  the 
explorers  first  encountered  Indians.  At  Savin  Hill  they 
entered  into  negotiations  with  the  sachem  whom  they 
found  there.  He  was  friendly,  being  a  subject  of  Massa- 
soit,  and  acted  as  their  guide  past  the  peninsulas,  now 


Standish  Visits  Boston  Harbor,  1621.  23 


known  as  South  Boston  and  Boston  Proper,  in  the  after- 
noon, till  they  reached  the  great  cove  of  Mishawum 
(Charlestown) ,  in  which  they  passed  the  night  at 
anchor. 

Early  on  Friday  morning,  two  men  being  left  to  guard 
the  boat,  the  party  marched  into  the  country  in  search 
of  Indians.  Following  the  trails  near  the  Mystic  River, 
they  appear  to  have  penetrated  as  far  as  the  present  High 
street  of  Medford,  or  even  to  the  present  Winchester. 
Although  the  Indians  were  shy,  they  gave  the  English- 
men food  and  sold  them  furs.  Moreover,  they  promised 
to  plant  corn  and  save  their  beaver  skins  as  the  basis  for 
future  trading. 

The  celerity  of  Standish's  movements  and  despatch 
of  business  was  noteworthy,  for  we  read  that  in  the 
afternoon  of  Friday  his  party  started  for  home,  which 
was  reached  the  next  day  before  noon. 

The  shores  and  waters  at  the  mouths  of  the  Charles 
and  the  Mystic  Rivers  had  impressed  the  explorers 
favorably,  and  they  reported  that: 

"  Better  harbors  for  shipping  cannot  be,  than  here  are. 
At  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  are  many  rocks  and  islands, 
and  in  all  likelihood,  very  good  fishing  ground.  Many, 
yea  most  of  the  islands  have  been  inhabited,  some  being 
cleared  from  end  to  end,  but  the  people  are  all  dead  or 
removed.' ' 

Bradford's  History  notes  that  the  party 

"  brought  home  a  good  quantity  of  beaver  and  made 
report  of  the  place,  wishing  that  they  had  been  there 
seated,  but  it  seems  the  Lord,  Who  assigns  to  all  men 
the  points  of  their  habitations,  had  appointed  it  for 
another  use." 


24  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

That  use,  as  events  proved,  was  to  make  Boston 
a  stronghold  of  Puritanism  and  the  metropolis  of  New 
England. 

The  ideals  and  projects  of  the  earlier  explorers  and 
planters  of  New  England  were  untinged  by  Puritanism. 
The  founders  of  New  Plymouth  were  Separatists  as  well 
as  exiles.  They  are  properly  to  be  classed  as  Puritans* 
but  they  were  out  of  touch  and  sympathy  with  the  main 
body  of  that  party,  who  were  moderates  in  doctrine  and 
policy.  It  was  not  till  the  struggle  between  Charles  I. 
and  the  Country  Party  began  to  assume  portentous 
proportions  and  the  prospects  of  purifying  church  and 
state  grew  dark,  that  the  leaders  of  that  party,  being 
impressed  by  the  success  of  the  Pilgrims  in  planting  a 
self-sustaining  colony,  began  to  look  on  New  England  as 
their  New  Caanan. 

It  was  natural  that  they  should  look  toward  the  region 
about  Massachusetts  Bay  as  their  land  of  refuge.  Already 
by  1626,  a  few  pioneer  Puritans  (who  had  withdrawn 
from  Plymouth,  like  Roger  Conant,  or  had  been  expelled 
from  there,  like  John  Oldham  and  the  Rev.  John  Lyford) 
had  settled  at  Natascot  (Nantasket)  and  Cape  Ann. 
Moreover,  the  region  between  the  Kennebec  and  Merrimac 
rivers  had  been  granted  to  Sir  F.  Georges  and  John 
Mason,  and  the  region  southwest  of  Buzzards  Bay  was 
debatable  land,  whose  occupation  was  likely  to  arouse  the 
ill-will  of  the  Dutch  in  New  Netherland.  So,  aside  from 
its  superior  advantages  on  other  accounts,  the  region 
between  the  Merrimac  and  the  Charles  rivers  was  the 
most  eligible  left  as  the  objective  point  of  a  Puritan 
migration. 

In  1623  a  small  company  of  merchants  of  Dorchester, 
in  the  west  of  England,  undertook  to  establish  a  fishing 


Settlements  at  Cape  Ann  and  Salem.         25 

station  and  plantation,  with  a  preacher  in  attendance, 
on  Cape  Ann.  Rev.  John  White,  a  prominent  Puritan 
clergyman  of  Dorchester,  appears  to  have  taken  an 
active  interest  in  this  project,  to  forward  which  some 
£3,000  were  subscribed.  In  1624  a  small  beginning 
was  made,  and  in  1625  Roger  Conant  became  Governor, 
i.  e.,  superintendent  of  the  plantation,  and  Rev.  John 
Lyford  its  minister.  In  1626  three  vessels  were  sent 
over;  one  of  them  bore  cattle  and  provisions.  In  the 
fall  of  1626  the  fishery  was  abandoned,  and  Conant  with 
a  few  associates  removed  to  Naumkeag  (Salem)  as  a 
preferable  place  for  tillage  and  pasturage.  Rev.  John 
White  promised  to  exert  himself  to  secure  a  patent  and 
send  out  men  and  supplies  if  Conant  would  stay  by  this 
remnant  at  Naumkeag. 

Accordingly,  a  patent  granted  March  19,  1627-28,  was 
secured  from  the  Plymouth  Council  for  New  England. 
It  conveyed  a  tract  of  land  extending  three  miles  north 
of  the  Merrimac  at  its  most  northerly  point  and  three 
miles  from  the  Charles  River  at  its  most  southerly  part 
and  westerly  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  South  Sea 
(Pacific).  Of  the  six  patentees,  five  were  gentlemen 
from  Dorchester  or  its  neighborhood.  This  patent 
encroached  upon  territory  previously  granted  to  Robert 
Gorges,  out  of  which  John  Gorges  had  granted  certain 
tracts  to  John  Oldham  and  Sir  William  Brereton,  but  the 
Bay  Company  ignored  their  claims. 

In  June,  1628,  Capt.  John  Endicott,  one  of  the  pat- 
entees, sailed  in  the  " Abigail"  with  a  party  of  fifty  or 
sixty  persons  to  found  a  settlement.  Endicott  arrived 
at  Naumkeag  on  September  6,  and  on  landing  was  met 
by  Conant  and  his  associates.  Endicott  produced  his 
commission  and  there  arose  some   controversy  on  the 


26  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

part  of  the  old  planters  and  Endicott,  but  an  agreement 
was  effected  through  Roger  Conant,  and  the  settlement 
was  named  Salem,  the  Hebrew  name  for  peace. 

The  Puritan  migration  to  Massachusetts  Bay  was 
recruited  chiefly  from  two  centers,  viz.,  Dorchester,  in 
the  west  of  England,  and  Lincolnshire  and  other  of  the 
eastern  counties.  After  Endicott  was  sent  out  by  the 
Dorchester  patentees  in  1628,  the  scope  of  their  plans 
was  enlarged.  They  petitioned  Charles  I.  for  a  charter  of 
incorporation,  which  was  granted  March  4,  1628-29. 

Associated  with  the  six  patentees,  as  incorporators,  were 
twenty  others,  representing  interests  that  centered  in 
London,  and  in  Boston,  Lincolnshire,  respectively.  The 
company  was  styled  "The  Governor  and  Company  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England."  The  territory 
conveyed  by  the  patent  of  the  previous  year  was  regranted 
to  the  new  company,  which  became  the  first  chartered 
colony  in  New  England. 

In  the  spring  of  1629  the  Bay  Company  fitted  out  three 
ships,  which  conveyed  some  400  persons  and  140  head  of 
cattle,  etc.,  to  Salem.  Three  ministers,  viz.,  Rev.  Samuel 
Skelton,  Rev.  Francis  Higginson  and  Rev.  Francis 
Bright,  accompanied  the  expedition.  A  copy  of  the 
charter  was  sent  to  Captain  Endicott,  who  was  appointed 
Governor  at  Salem  by  the  company.  The  company 
named  seven  persons,  including  the  three  ministers,  to 
act  with  him  as  Assistants  in  governing  the  colony  accord- 
ing to  instructions  from  the  company. 

In  the  company's  letter  this  is  found : 

"  If,  at  the  arrival  of  this  ship,  Mr.  Endicott  should 
be  departed  this  life  (which  God  forbid)  or  should  happen 
to  die  before  the  other  ships  arrive,  we  authorize  you, 


ST.    BOTOLPH'S     CHURCH,    BOSTON,    ENGLAND. 


Old  Boston,  A  Puritan  Stronghold.  27 

Mr.  Skelton  and  Mr.  Samuel  Sharpe,  to  take  care  of  our 
affairs  and  to  govern  the  people  according  to  order, 
until  further  order." 

The  ships  arrived  in  June,  and  Endicott,  following 
instructions,  promptly  sent  men  "to  inhabit  in  the  Bay" 
in  order  to  forestall  Oldham  who  had  laid  claim  to  terri- 
tory there  under  R.  Gorges's  patent.  Accordingly,  a 
settlement  was  effected  in  the  peninsula  of  Mishawum  in 
July,  1629.  The  settlers  named  it  Charlestown,  and 
proceeded  to  establish  a  town  there  which  was  the  first 
place  in  New  England  to  assume  the  town  polity, —  Salem, 
like  Plymouth,  being  governed  by  a  Governor  and  Council. 

Boston,  on  the  river  Witham,  in  Lincolnshire,  was  an 
important  seaport.  It  appears  to  have  been  a  principal 
stronghold  of  the  English  Puritans.  About  seventeen 
miles  from  Boston  was  Sempringham,  a  seat  of  the  Earl 
of  Lincoln,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Puritan  party. 

Mr.  Isaac  Johnson  and  Mr.  John  Humphrey  were 
brothers-in-law  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln.  Thomas  Dudley 
was  his  steward,  i.  e.,  the  manager  of  his  estates.  Simon 
Bradstreet,  destined  like  Dudley  to  become  prominent  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Bay  Colony,  was  a  member  of  the  earl's 
household,  as  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  Skelton,  who  seems  to 
have  been  his  domestic  chaplain. 

It  is  also  clear  that  the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  Vicar  of  St. 
Botolph's  Church  in  Boston,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker, 
who  had  been  a  refugee  in  Holland  because  of  his 
nonconformity,  young  Roger  Williams  and  Mr.  John 
Winthrop  of  Groton,  in  the  County  of  Suffolk,  were  on 
intimate  terms  with  the  Puritan  coterie  that  was  headed 
by  the  Earl  of  Lincoln. 

The  Cambridge  meeting  so  called,  held  on  August  26, 


28  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

1629,  which  resulted  in  an  agreement,  signed  there  by 
twelve  gentlemen,  that  they  would  in  March  ensuing  go 
out  to  New  England  with  their  families  in  case  the 
charter  and  government  could  be  transferred  thither 
legally,  appears  to  have  been  the  direct  result  of  con- 
ferences at  Sempringham  between  the  representatives  of 
the  Dorchester  and  Boston  groups  of  Puritans. 

It  is  quite  likely  that  in  the  company  sent  out  to  Salem 
in  1629  the  Rev.  Samuel  Skelton  represented  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln.  At  any  rate,  the  first  church  organized  in  the 
Bay  Colony,  and  perhaps  the  first  Congregationalist 
Church  in  America,  was  organized  at  Salem,  July  20, 
1629.  Mr.  Skelton  was  chosen  minister,  and  Mr.  Higgin- 
son,  teacher.  It  is  specifically  stated  by  one  who  was 
present  that  the  names  of  the  candidates  were  written 
on  pieces  of  paper,  and  that  Mr.  Skelton,  having  "more 
voices"  (votes)  was  chosen  minister. 

It  would  appear  from  Thomas  Dudley's  letter  to  the 
Dowager  Countess  of  Lincoln,  written  in  March,  1631, 
that  the  plan  of  the  leaders  of  the  Puritan  Exodus  of 
1629-30  was  to  establish  a  fortified  town,  three  leagues 
up  the  Charles  River,  and  that  they  had  determined 
before  leaving  England  to  name  that  town  Boston. 

It  is  significant,  therefore,  that  when  they  were  obliged 
to  "plant  dispersedly,"  that  the  Court  of  Assistants,  while 
still  in  Charlestown,  on  September  7,  1630,  ordered  that 
" Trimountaine  shall  be  called  Boston."  Evidently  they 
expected  it  to  become  the  principal  town  in  the  Bay. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  western  men  were  a  rela- 
tively well-organized  group  under  the  leadership  of  the 
"Rev.  Mr.  Warham  and  Mr.  Maverick,  with  many  godly 
families  and  people  under  their  care,  from  Devonshire, 
Dorsetshire   and    Somersetshire."     The  western   people 


Massachusetts  Company  Chartered,  1629.      29 

had  sailed  on  March  20,  1630,  in  two  ships  and  arrived  at 
Nantasket  on  May  30,  that  is,  a  fortnight  before  the 
arrival  of  the  "Arbella,"  with  Governor  Winthrop,  at 
Salem.  This  furnishes  further  evidence  that  the  exodus 
of  1630  was  promoted  by  both  the  Dorchester  and  Boston 
groups  of  Puritans  in  the  old  country. 

The  Puritan  Exodus  from  England,  1630-40,  was  a 
carefully  planned  movement. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  from  the  accession  of 
James  I.  in  1604  it  was  the  policy  of  the  English  king  to 
promote  the  colonization  of  the  regions  in  America,  which 
were  held  to  be  possessions  of  the  crown  by  virtue  of  the 
discoveries  of  the  Cabots  in  1497-98. 

The  earliest  attempts  to  establish  colonies  in  South  and 
North  Virginia  had  the  express  permission  of  the  reigning 
house,  embodied  in  royal  letters  patent.  King  James  I. 
refused  "freedom  of  religion"  to  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  but 
promised  not  to  hinder  them  from  settling  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  London  Company  that  had  effected, 
through  its  agents,  the  planting  of  Jamestown  in  1607. 

The  promoters  of  the  Puritan  Exodus,  taking  into 
consideration  the  untoward  circumstances  and  mistaken 
measures  that  had  signalized  previous  attempts  at  coloni- 
zation, sought  to  secure  larger  powers  from  King  Charles 
than  their  predecessors  had  been  able  to  secure  from  King 
James. 

Accordingly  the  Dorchester  patentees,  as  has  been 
stated,  prevailed  on  the  King,  in  March,  1629,  to  grant  a 
charter  of  incorporation  to  them  and  their  associates 
under  the  title  of  "the  Governor  and  Company  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  in  New  England." 

The  company  was  duly  organized,  with  its  seat  in 
London.     It  appointed  Endicott  as  Governor  and  certain 


30  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

others  as  Assistants  to  administer  affairs  at  Salem,  which 
did  not  become  a  town  until  after  the  transfer  of  the 
charter  and  the  seat  of  government  to  Massachusetts  in 
the  summer  of  1630.  This  transfer  was  made  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  definite  policy  to  obviate  the  disadvantages  of 
dual  government  that  had  so  hindered  the  early  develop- 
ment of  the  Virginia  colony. 

Owing  to  the  adoption  of  this  farsighted  policy,  the 
company  was  enabled  to  secure  the  adhesion  of  a  group  of 
well-to-do  and  influential  members  of  the  Puritan  party 
in  England,  mostly  residents  of  Lincolnshire  and  East 
Anglia,  who  agreed  at  Cambridge,  in  August,  1629,  to  go 
out  with  their  families,  in  March,  1630,  to  establish  a 
permanent  settlement  that  should  afford  a  refuge  to 
themselves  and  their  harassed  compatriots. 

The  company  was  reorganized  in  London  on  October 
20,  1629,  by  the  choice  of  John  Winthrop  as  Governor, 
John  Humphrey,  Deputy  Governor,  and  eighteen  others 
as  Assistants.  Among  these,  who  generally  were  termed 
Magistrates  thereafter,  were  fourteen  men  who  had  been 
named  as  incorporators  in  the  charter.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  company  to 
establish  a  Puritan  Commonwealth,  beyond  the  reach 
of  interference  from  the  home  government.  At  any  rate 
they  did  so,  and  so  fulfilled  Sir  F.  Gorges's  prophecy 
regarding  them. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  some  1,500  persons,  brought 
on  twelve  ships,  found  their  way  to  the  shores  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1630.  These 
immigrants  were  not  only  more  numerous  and  comprised 
more  home-seekers  than  any  body  of  English  colonists 
that  had  sat  down  within  the  American  possessions  of 
the  English  crown,  but  they  were  better  organized  for 


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GOVERNOR     WINTHROP,     1630. 


Settlements  in  the  Bay,  1630.  31 

economic  and  political  growth  and  development;  they  were 
more  united  in  their  views  and  aims,  and  were  more 
abundantly  furnished  with  cattle  and  implements  of 
agriculture,  as  well  as  with  cannon  and  other  munitions 
for  defence. 

It  was  originally  planned  to  build  "a  town  fortified 
three  leagues  up  the  Charles  River"  for  the  colonists  of 
1630.  The  mouth  of  the  river  was  then  supposed  to  be 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Nantasket,  where  the  colonists 
from  Dorchester,  in  the  west  of  England,  were  forced  by 
their  obdurate  shipmaster  to  land  on  May  30,  1630.  The 
passengers  on  Winthrop's  ships,  the  first  of  which  arrived 
at  Salem,  June  12  (old  style),  soon  proceeded  to  Charles- 
town,  whose  site  had  been  occupied  and  laid  out  by  men 
from  Salem  in  the  summer  of  1629. 

Evidently  Charlestown  (although  it  contained  a  Great 
House  where  Winthrop  and  several  of  the  Assistants  were 
lodged  for  some  weeks)  proved  ill  adapted  for  the  building 
of  "a  town  fortified."  At  any  rate,  many  people,  who 
crowded  the  tents  and  shacks  at  Charlestown,  fell  sick 
from  infectious  diseases  that  had  started  on  shipboard. 
Scarcity  of  springs  of  fresh  water  aggravated  the  situation 
within  the  Charlestown  peninsula. 

"We  were  forced,3'  says  Deputy  Governor  Dudley,  "to 
change  counsel  and  for  our  present  shelter  to  plant  dis- 
persedly,  some  at  Charlestown,  some  at  Boston,  some 
upon  Mistick,  which  we  named  Meadf ord  (Medford) ,  some 
of  us  westward  on  Charles  River,  four  miles  from  Charles- 
town, which  place  we  named  Watertown;  others  of  us  two 
miles  from  Boston  in  a  place  we  named  Rocksbury 
(Roxbury) ;  others  upon  the  river  of  Saugus,  between  Salem 
and  Charlestown,  and  the  western  men  four  miles  south  of 
Boston,  at  a  place  we  named  Dorchester,  ...  so  they 
who  had  health  fell  to  building." 


32  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Dudley  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Low  Countries,  and 
the  selection,  in  December,  1630,  of  a  site  for  "a  fort  to 
retire  to,  .  .  .  if  any  enemy  pressed  us  thereunto 
after  we  should  have  fortified  ourselves  against  the 
injuries  of  wet  and  cold,"  doubtless  met  with  his  approval 
and  may  have  been  largely  owing  to  his  insistence.  This 
place,  a  mile  or  more  from  Watertown,  was  known  as  the 
Newe  Towne,  until  by  authority  it  was  named  Cambridge 
in  1638. 

The  Indian  name  of  the  peninsula  selected  by  the 
founders  of  Boston  for  their  original  settlement  was 
Shawmut,  signifying  sweet  or  living  waters,  it  is  said. 
It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  a  certain  Indian  medicinal 
spring  in  West  Quincy  bears  the  name  of  Shawmut  to 
this  day.  Certainly  the  peninsula  did  abound  in  springs 
of  fresh  water,  a  fact  that  seems  to  have  led  Governor 
Winthrop  and  his  immediate  followers  "to  sit  down" 
there  instead  of  at  Charlestown,  where  the  water  supply 
was  inadequate. 

The  inhabitants  of  Charlestown  called  the  same  penin- 
sula Trimountaine,  because  the  three  peaks  of  what  is 
now  called  Beacon  Hill  confronted  them  across  the  river 
toward  the  south. 

The  Assistants  held  a  court  at  Charlestown  on  Septem- 
ber 7,  1630  (old  style),  at  which  it  was  ordered  that  " Tri- 
mountaine shall  be  called  Boston;  Mattapan,  Dorchester, 
and  the  towne  upon  Charles  River,  Waterton."  Charles- 
ton or  Charlton  was  so  named  from  its  situation  on  the 
Charles  River  by  its  settlers  in  the  summer  of  1629. 

Roxbury,  frequently  called  Rocksbury  in  the  early 
records,  probably  took  its  name  from  the  numerous 
ridges  of  conglomerate,  or  Roxbury  pudding  stone,  as  it  is 


Old  Boston  and  Its  Namesake.  33 

now  called,  found  within  its  territory.  Meadford  (Med- 
ford)  on  the  Mystic  was  distinguished  for  its  meads  or 
meadows.  The  Newe  Towne,  projected  late  in  1630,  went 
by  that  name  till  1638,  when  because  it  had  become 
the  seat  of  Harvard  College  its  name  was  changed  by 
authority  to  Cambridge.  Saugus,  the  eighth  of  the 
Primary  Towns  of  Massachusetts,  bore  an  Indian  name 
that  was  soon  changed  to  Linn  or  Lynn. 

Boston  derived  its  English  name  from  Boston,  an 
important  port  upon  the  River  Witham  that  flows  into 
the  Wash,  in  Lincolnshire.  Old  Boston  held  a  promi- 
nent place  in  Puritan  annals.  Thence  the  Separatists  of 
Scrooby  set  out  for  Holland  in  1608.  It  was  a  hotbed 
of  Puritanism  in  the  years  just  preceding  the  exodus  of 
1630  to  New  England.  Several  of  the  most  prominent 
leaders  of  the  exodus,  notably  Mr.  Isaac  Johnson  and 
Mr.  John  Humphrey,  sons-in-law  of  the  third  Earl  of 
Lincoln,  were  residents  of  Boston.  Thence,  too,  came 
later  on  a  group  of  men  who  exercised  great  influence  in 
the  affairs  both  of  the  colony  and  of  Boston,  among 
whom  may  be  mentioned  Thomas  Leverett,  who  had 
been  Mayor  of  Boston;  Richard  Bellingham,  who  had 
been  its  Recorder,  and  Atherton  Hough,  who  had  been 
an  alderman  there,  as  well  as  the  Rev.  John  Cotton, 
who,  in  1633,  was  ejected  by  Archbishop  Laud  from  the 
pastorate  of  Old  Boston's  most  famous  church,  that  of 
St.  Botolph,  the  tutelary  saint  of  sailors  of  the  east  of 
England.  Thomas  Dudley  and  Simon  Bradstreet,  who 
came  out  in  1630,  were  also  from  the  neighborhood  of 
old  Boston. 

The  word  Boston  is  usually  held  to  mean  Botolph's 
ton  or  town.     In  the  fourteenth  century  such  forms  as 


34  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Botolestone  and  Botolfs  tune  occur.  Lambarde,  about 
1577,  says  the  place  was  then  called  Bostonstow,  though 
"commonly  and  corruptly  called  Boston." 

It  seems  most  probable  that  our  Boston  was  so  named 
in  compliment  to  Mr.  Isaac  Johnson  from  Old  Boston, 
who  was  one  of  the  most  influential  and  highly  esteemed 
of  the  Magistrates  who  came  out  to  New  England  in  1630. 
Johnson  died  three  weeks  after  the  town  was  named. 

The  eight  places  enumerated  by  Dudley,  that  were 
planted  dispersedly  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1630, 
speedily  assumed  the  town  form  of  government  for  the 
management  of  their  local  affairs  and  may  be  fairly 
designated  as  the  Primary  Towns  of  Massachusetts. 
It  was  fortunate  for  their  founders  that  their  arrival  was 
in  the  summer  instead  of  late  in  the  fall,  as  had  been  the 
case  ten  years  before  with  the  founders  of  Plymouth, 
else  the  former  would  not  have  been  so  much  better 
"fortified  against  the  injuries  of  wet  and  cold"  than  were 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 

The  charter  provided  that  the  company,  including  the 
Freemen,  should  be  convened  in  a  Great  and  General 
Court  (assembly)  at  quarterly  intervals,  and  that  the 
Governor,  Deputy  Governor  and  Assistants  —  to  be 
chosen  by  the  Freemen  annually  in  Easter  term,  at  the 
Court  of  Elections  —  might  hold  courts  monthly  or 
oftener  if  necessary.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  neither 
the  General  Court  nor  the  Court  of  Assistants,  which  met 
frequently  in  the  period  1630-35,  can  be  shown  to 
have  exercised  either  a  stimulating  or  shaping  influence 
upon  the  development  of  the  eight  primary  towns,  if  we 
except  their  selection  of  the  site  for  the  Newe  Towne.  So 
far  as  appears  from  the  Colonial  Records,  begun  in  August, 
1630,  or  the  records  of  the  several  towns,  which  begin  in 


Primary  Towns  Self-organized,  1630.  35 

most  cases  in  1634,  each  town  was  self-planted  and  self- 
organized,  although  the  choice  of  the  names  of  Boston, 
Dorchester  and  Watertown  were  confirmed  by  orders  of 
the  Court  of  Assistants.  No  definite  grant  of  territory 
can  be  cited  to  any  of  the  self -formed  groups  who  "fell 
to  building"  as  soon  as  the  necessity  of  " planting 
dispersedly"  was  realized. 

Each  group  of  settlers  appears  to  have  selected  a  tract 
of  land  and  thereupon,  without  challenge  or  instruction 
from  superior  authority,  to  have  allotted  house  and  garden 
plots,  set  apart  certain  tracts  as  planting  fields  within  a 
common  fence,  and  other  tracts  of  unenclosed  waste  as 
common  pastures,  common  meadows  or  common  wood- 
lands. The  earliest  records  of  these  groups,  in  which 
frequent  use  of  the  term  "town"  and  "townsmen," 
"  townes-meeting,"  etc.,  is  made,  abound  in  references  to 
the  passage  of  penal  orders  (by-laws),  the  choice  of 
overseers  of  the  fields,  herdsmen,  allotters,  "men  chosen 
for  the  town's  occasions,"  and  the  like.  The  formula 
used  in  recording  what  we  should  term  a  vote  is  usually 
"It  is  agreed  and  concluded,"  "It  is  agreed  by  general 
consent"  or  "It  is  ordered." 

In  general,  the  admission  of  new  townsmen  or  inhabi- 
tants, the  division  and  allotments  of  lands,  the  choice  of 
officials  and  committees  and  the  passage  of  orders  for 
the  regulation  of  fields,  fences  and  commons  expressed 
the  will  of  a  general  public  meeting  or  primary  assembly 
made  up  of  townsmen,  i.  e.,  the  men  who  were  house- 
holders and  had  a  right  to  plant  in  the  common  fields  or 
send  cattle,  to  the  common  pastures.  As  to  details  of 
procedure  and  nomenclature,  usage  varied,  but  it  is  clear 
that  at  the  outset  all  the  towns  whose  records  are  avail- 
able were  organized  as  simple,  agrarian  communities  on  a 


36  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

free  democratic  basis.  The  development  of  the  three 
essential  organs  peculiar  to  the  town  polity,  viz.,  the  town 
meeting,  town  orders,  or  by-laws,  and  selectmen,  appears 
to  have  taken  place  more  or  less  contemporaneously  in  the 
Primary  Towns  before  1635.  The  suffix  by  found  in  the 
names  of  many  places  in  the  east  of  England  is  of  Danish 
origin.    It  is  synonymous  with  the  Old  English  ton. 

March  3,  1635,  the  General  Court  passed  an  order  giving 
statutory  sanction  to  measures  and  methods  that  had 
already  been  developed  by  custom  in  the  Primary  Towns. 

The  most  significant  provisions  of  the  order  in  question 
were  as  follows : 

"The  freemen  of  every  town,  or  the  major  part  of  them, 
shall  only  have  power  to  dispose  of  their  own  lands  and 
woods,  to  grant  lots,  and  to  make  such  orders  as  may 
concern  the  well  ordering  of  their  own  towns ;  as  also  to  lay 
mulcts  and  penalties  for  the  breach  of  their  orders,  not 
exceeding  xx  s ;  also  to  choose  their  own  particular  officers 
as  constables,  surveyors  for  the  high  ways;  and  the  like." 

Subsequently  the  electoral  franchise  in  the  towns  was 
extended  "to  all  Englishmen  twenty-four  years  of  age,  of 
honest  and  good  conversation,  being  Rated  at  twenty 
pounds  estate  in  a  single  Country  Rate,  and  that  have 
taken  the  Oath  of  Fidelity  to  this  Government."  The 
date  of  this  is  uncertain,  but  it  conforms  closely  with  an 
order  of  the  General  Court  of  26  May,  1647,  except  that 
the  latter  contains  no  property  qualification  whatever. 
Thus  the  electoral  franchise  in  the  towns  was  more 
liberal  than  that  of  the  Freemen,  who  alone  could  vote 
for  deputies  and  magistrates,  the  freemanship  by  an 
order  of  the  General  Court,  passed  in  1631,  being 
restricted  to  church  members. 

The  order  of  1635  served  as  a  sort  of  general  town  code 


Town  and  Township.  37 

in  accordance  with  which  grants  of  common  land  and  of 
town  privileges  were  made  for  the  establishment  of  new 
towns.  After  1635,  when  the  settlement  of  the  back  coun- 
try became  active,  the  main  provisions  of  the  order  were 
embodied  in  the  organic  law  in  1641,  when  The  Bodye  of 
Liberties  was  adopted  as  the  result  of  a  referendum. 

Town  and  township  are  used  as  synonymous  terms 
in  The  Bodye  of  Liberties,  which  provide  that: 

"The  freemen  of  every  Towne  or  Towneship  shall  have 
full  power  to  choose  yearly  or  for  lesse  time  out  of  them- 
selves, a  convenient  number  of  fitt  men  to  order  the 
planting  on  prudentiall  occasions  of  that  Town  according 
to  Instructions  given  them  in  writeing,"  etc. 

The  territory  of  a  town  ultimately  came  to  be  called  a 
township,  and  town  came  to  signify  the  members  of  the 
town  community  in  their  corporate  capacity.  Thus  the 
terms  "town"  and  "township"  in  Massachusetts  acquired 
the  general  meaning  which  they  have  to-day  throughout 
the  United  States.  The  meaning  which  originally  attached 
to  those  terms  in  England  was  just  the  reverse. 

A  township  of  land  as  ordinarily  understood  to-day  by 
surveyors  throughout  the  country  means  a  tract  six  miles 
square  and  containing  23,040  acres.  In  1735  the  Gen- 
eral Court  granted  three  such  "townships  of  land"  to  the 
Town  of  Boston.  When  in  1635  the  General  Court  began 
to  make  grants  of  land  for  the  establishment  of  new  land- 
ward plantations,  it  was  ordered: 

"that  there  shall  be  a  plantation  at  Musquetaquid 
(Concord),  and  that  there  shall  be  6  miles  of  land  square 
to  belong  to  it." 

Whether  this  use  of  six  miles  square  as  the  area  of  a 
township  was  novel  or  original  is  an  interesting  question 
whose  answer  we  do  not  know. 


38  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

While  the  terms  town  and  township  occur  quite  often 
in  the  earliest  records,  town  meeting  and  selectmen  were 
not  in  common  use  till  later.  Thus,  although  the  records 
show  that  men  were  chosen  in  1633  in  Dorchester  and 
in  1634  in  Charlestown,  Cambridge,  Watertown  and 
Boston  to  perform  the  duties  of  selectmen,  as  we  under- 
stand them,  still  it  is  probable  that  the  first  citable 
instance  of  the  use  of  the  term  " Selectmen"  in  the  records 
of  a  town  is  found  in  an  order  passed  "At  a  General 
Town's  Meeting"  in  Boston,  on  March  4,  1642. 

As  appears  from  the  rates  levied  on  the  several  towns, 
Boston's  primacy  in  ratable  property  was  not  established 
till  1637,  although  in  the  interval,  1630-36,  it  ranked 
either  first  or  second.  Yet  the  pressure  of  population 
and  the  need  of  more  land  for  agricultural  purposes  were 
sooner  felt  in  Boston  than  elsewhere.  This  was  doubt- 
less owing  to  the  fact  that  Boston  was  practically  the 
seat  of  government  and  to  its  advantageous  position 
in  respect  to  the  ship  channel,  which  rendered  it  the 
commercial  center  of  the  colony  from  the  first. 

In  acreage  Boston  was  one  of  the  smallest  of  the 
towns.  Its  area  hardly  exceeded  750  acres,  in  all  proba- 
bility. Moreover,  there  was  very  little  wooded  land 
within  its  limits.  In  1632  Boston  was  granted  by  the 
General  Court  a  neck  of  land  at  Pullen  Point  (Winthrop), 
and  was  given  "liberty  to  fetch  wood  from  Dorchester 
neck  (South  Boston)  for  20  years."  In  1633  it  was  given 
the  right  "to  fetch  wood  continually"  from  a  part  of 
Noddle's  Island,  the  whole  of  which  in  1637  was  granted 
to  Boston.  Judging  from  the  present  area  of  Chelsea, 
Winthrop,  Revere,  Brain  tree,  Quincy,  Randolph,  Hol- 
brook,  Brookline  and  East  Boston,  whose  original  sites 
were  granted  to  Boston  "for  its  enlargement"  in  the 


Boston's  Fields  and  Commons.  39 

period  1632-37,  the  Boston  town  meeting  in  1639  —  the 
year  before  Braintree  was  set  off  as  a  separate  town  — 
exercised  jurisdiction  over  fully  43,000  acres  of  land, 
of  which  hardly  two  per  cent  lay  within  the  Boston 
peninsula.  To-day,  despite  all  the  territory  that  has 
been  added  to  Boston  since  1804,  by  annexation,  the 
total  area  of  Boston  is  placed  at  only  30,666  acres. 

By  1635  Boston  had  at  least  four  planting  fields  within 
the  Neck,  besides  one  on  Noddle's  Island  and  another  at 
Muddy  River  (Brookline) .  It  had  already  acquired  fifty 
acres  of  The  Common  by  purchase  for  £30  from  Black- 
stone,  and  it  is  manifest  from  entries  in  the  records  that 
it  had  other  common  pastures  outside  the  Neck,  e.  g., 
at  Pullen  Point  Neck  and  at  Muddy  River.  Charles- 
town  and  Dorchester,  and  probably  Watertown  and 
Cambridge,  had  also  laid  out  planting  fields  and  set 
apart  common  pastures. 

Boston's  two  tracts  of  common  within  the  Neck, 
viz.,  the  fifty  acres  purchased  from  Blackstone  in  1634 
and  the  common  next  to  Roxbury  Gate,  together  with 
her  commons  laid  out  at  Braintree,  Muddy  River 
and  Pullen  Point  Neck,  must  have  amounted  to  over 
4,000  acres. 

By  1795  all  of  Boston's  common  lands  and  all  of  her 
commons  outside  the  Neck  had  been  disposed  of  by  grant 
or  sale;  so  that  the  town  began  the  nineteenth  century 
with  only  2,218  acres  of  hard  land,  including  Noddle's 
and  Breed's  Islands.  After  the  Neck  lands  had  been  filled 
in  and  sold  off  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century  (with 
the  exception  of  Blackstone  and  Franklin  squares,  contain- 
ing 4.83  acres  all  told),  "The  Common"  became  the  sole 
and  shrunken  remainder  of  Boston's  ancient  commons. 
To-day  it  amounts  to  48.40  acres,  or,  with  the  Public  Gar- 


40  Boston  and  Its  Stoky. 

den,  to  72.65  acres.  The  Common  is  valued  at  $46,000,000 
and  the  Public  Garden  at  $9,000,000. 

Like  Boston,  the  other  Primary  Towns  long  ago  divided 
up  or  sold  their  common  lands  and  commons.  -None  of 
the  districts  annexed  to  the  city  has  added  appreciably  to 
the  commons  of  Boston.  Boston's  communal  holdings 
of  strictly  agricultural  lands  passed  into  the  hands  of 
private  owners  earlier  than  was  the  case  in  the  other 
Primary  Towns.  The  Town  of  Boston  in  1645  transformed 
the  allotments  of  arable,  meadow,  etc.,  within  and  without 
the  Neck,  within  a  common  fence,  as  well  as  all  house 
plots  and  gardens,  into  holdings  in  fee  simple,  and  Boston's 
formative,  agrarian  stage  of  development  came  to  an 
end  and  was  forgotten.  So  completely  forgotten  that 
most  modern  scholars  have  overlooked  its  significance,  as 
an  episode  that  links  up  the  development  of  the  primitive 
Massachusetts  town  community  with  the  old  Saxon  tun  or 
ton  and  Danish  by  communities  established  by  the  invaders 
of  Britain  from  the  sixth  to  the  eleventh  centuries,  which 
were  later  overgrown  and  masked  by  the  manorial  and 
feudal  systems  that  were  largely  developed  after  the 
Norman  Conquest. 

The  rapid  passage  of  Boston  through  its  preliminary, 
agrarian  stage  of  development  was  accelerated  and  inten- 
sified by  the  greater  diversity  and  complexity  of  Boston's 
civic  and  social  life,  attributable  to  her  primacy  among 
her  sister  towns  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  she  was  at  once 
the  most  populous,  the  foremost  politically,  being  the 
capital,  and  the  foremost  commercially,  because  of  her 
possession  of  superior  port  facilities  and  her  location  at  the 
gateway  to  the  interior.  It  was  inevitable  that  Boston 
should  become  the  metropolis  of  New  England. 


Charlestown  the  First  Town. 


41 


Unusual  interest  attaches  to  the  records  of  Charlestown, 
both  because  it  was  the  first  settlement  in  Massachusetts 
organized  as  a  town,  and  because  its  early  records  are 
more  complete  than  those  of  any  other  of  the  Primary 
Towns.  The  first  entry  in  the  Charlestown  records  is  as 
follows,  but  it  should  be  noted  that  "in  Anno  1628" 
should  read  "in  Anno  1628-29"  since  the  settlement  took 
place  early  in  July,  1629  (new  style) : 

"The  Inhabitants  yt  first  setled  in  this  place  &  brought 
it  into  the  denomination  of  An  English  Towne  was  in 
Anno  1628  as  folios:  vizt. 


Ralph  Sprague 
Richd  Sprague 
William  Sprague 
John  Meech 
Simon  Hoyte 


Abra-.  Palmer 
Walter  Pamer 
Nicholas  Stowers 
John  Stickline 
Tho.  Walford 
Smith,  yt  lived 
heere  alone  before 


Mr.  Graves  who 
had  charge  of  the 
Company  of  Pat- 
tentees  with  whom 
hee  built  the 
great  house  this 
yeare  for  such  of 
the  sd  Company  as 
are  shortly  to  come 
over  wch  aftr- 
wards  became  the 
Meeteing  house. 

And  Mr.  Bright  Minister  to  the  Companies  Servants: 

"By  whome  it  was  Jointly  agreed  &  concluded  yt  this 
place  on  the  North  side  of  Charles  River  by  the  Natives 
called  Mishawum  shall  henceforth  from  the  name  of 
the  River  bee  called  Charlestowne  wch  was  also  confirmed 
by  Mr.  John  Endicutt  Governour." 

"It  is  Jointly  agreed  &  concluded  by  the  Inhabitants 
of  this  Towne  yt  Mr.  Graves  doe  moddle,  &  lay  out  the 
forme  of  the  Towne  with  Streets  about  the  Hill  wch  was 
accordingly  done  and  aprooved  of  by  the  GovernoV 

"It  is  Jointly  agreed  &  concluded  yt  each  Inhabitant 
have  A  two-Acre  Lott  to  plant  upon,  &  all  to  ffence  in 
Common  wch  was  accordingly  by  Mr.  Graves  measured 
out  unto  them." 


42  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

"Uppon  which  —  Ralph  Sprague  &  othrs  began  to  build 
theire  nouses,  &  to  prpare  ffenceing  for  theire  Lotts  wch 
was  aftrwds  sett  up  almost  in  a  Semi-Circular  forme  on 
the  South  and  South  East  side  of  yt  field  laid  out  to  them, 
wch  lies  scituate  on  ye  Northwest  side  of  the  Towne 
Hill." 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Mr.  Graves  was  an  engineer 
and  that  the  lines  of  his  original  "moddle"  (model  or 
town  plan)  are  still  discernible  on  the  maps  of  the 
Charlestown  District,  which  was  annexed  to  Boston  in 
1874. 

In  the  records  for  1630,  a  fence  order  is  found,  and  also 
the  following,  concerning  Charlestown's  first  planting 
field  within  a  common  fence : 

"Agreed  &  concluded  by  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Towne 
yt  the  great  Corne  field  shalbee  on  the  Eastside  of  ye 
Townehill,  the  ffence  to  Range  allong  even  with  those 
dwellings  where  Water  Pam(ers)  house  stands  &  so  along 
towards  ye  necke  of  Land,  &  yt  to  every  Inhabitant 
dwelling  within  the  necke  bee  given  two  Acres  of  Land 
for  an  houseplott  &  two  Acres  for  every  Male  yt  is  able 
to  plant;  ...  &  yt  ye  Cattle  bee  kept  without  upon 
the  Maine." 

In  1632,  the  inhabitants  chose  a  man  to  "keepe  the 
Milch  Cattle  of  this  Towne  in  A  Heard  without  the 
necke  of  Land  upon  the  Maine  till  the  end  of  Harvest." 

In  the  records  for  1633,  the  following  occur: 

"Agreed  &  concluded  the  9-  of  Jannr  by  the  Inhab- 
itants of  this  Towne,  yt  Nicholas  Stowers  keepe  the  Towne 
heard  the  yeare  ensueing,  &  yt  hee  drive  the  heard  forth 
to  theire  food  in  the  Maine  every  morning  &  bring  them 
into  towne  every  evening,  &  to  have  50  bushells  of  Indian 
Corne  for  keeping  the  Milch  Cowes  till  Indian  harvest 
bee  taken  in,  hee  is  also  to  have  the  benefitt  of  keepeing 
such  othr  Cattle  as  shall  come  into  Towne  this  Summr:" 


Emergence  of  Selectmen,  1633-34.  43 

"  Agreed  &  concluded  (in  April)  by  the  Inhabitants 
of  this  Towne  that  the  sume  of  tenn  pounds  bee  collected 
of  the  sd  Inhabitants,  &  bee  paid  in  to  John  Winthrop, 
Esqr.,  &  Governor,  &  the  rest  of  the  Gen*,  interested 
in  the  Great  house  built  in  Anno  1628  by  Mr.  Graves 
&  the  Companies  servts  wch  is  for  the  purcha(se)  of  the 
sd  house,  now  the  publicke  meeteing  house  of  this  Towne, 
all  wch  was  accordingly  done." 

The  Great  House  had  been  built  in  1629  to  serve  as  the 
Governor's  residence.  Because  of  Winthrop's  settlement 
in  Boston,  it  became  unavailable  for  its  original  purpose. 
After  serving  as  a  meeting  house  for  two  years,  it  was 
sold  for  £30  and  turned  into  a  tavern.  It  was  finally 
burnt  down  in  the  fire  which  destroyed  Charlestown, 
June  17,  1775. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  inhabitants  of  Charlestown 
for  the  first  five  years  met  together  whenever  it  was 
necessary  to  take  action  on  the  affairs  of  the  town.  In 
"9ber"  i.  e.,  November,  1634,  "Towne  meeting"  emerges 
in  the  records  for  the  first  time.  But  frequent  meetings 
of  the  "Townsmen  in  Generall,"  entailed  "great  trouble 
and  charge  of  the  Inhabitants,"  so  they  jointly  agreed 
that  eleven  men  should,  for  the  ensuing  year,  "entreat 
of  all  such  businesses  as  shall  concerne  the  Inhabitants  of 
this  Towne  the  choice  of  officers  excepted."  This  agree- 
ment was  signed  by  thirty-three  men,  who  bound  themselves 
to  submit  to  what  the  eleven  chosen  men  "or  the  greatest 
part  of  them  shall  conclude."  Thus  on  February  10, 
1634,  selectmen  (although  not  so  denominated  in  the 
records)  were  chosen  in  Charlestown  for  the  first  time. 

Officers  charged  with  the  duties  of  selectmen  (although 
that  term  did  not  definitely  emerge  till  1642  and  then  in 
the  Boston  records),  were  chosen  in  other  towns  as  early 


44  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

as:  (1)  October  8,  1633,  in  Dorchester;  (2)  February  3, 
1634,  in  Cambridge;  (3)  August  23,  1634,  in  Watertown; 
and  (4)  October  6,  1634,  and  probably  earlier  in  the 
same  year  in  Boston.  The  number,  tenure  and  designa- 
tion of  such  officers  varied  greatly;  but  seven  and  nine 
became  general. 

It  would  appear  from  the  records  that  Charlestown 
established  its  East  Field  in  1629,  and  its  first  common 
for  pasture  in  1630.  By  1638,  the  town  had  at  least  six 
common  fields,  besides  common  hay  grounds  or  meadows, 
and  one  or  more  commons  in  which  rights  of  "cow  com- 
mons" or  "cow's  grass"  were  recognized  as  a  species  of 
negotiable  property,  appurtenant  to  a  homestead. 

The  founders  of  Boston  were  fortunate  in  their  choice  of 
a  site.  The  moving  cause  of  the  migration  of  Governor 
Winthrop  and  his  immediate  following  from  Charlestown 
appears  to  have  been  the  urgent  necessity  of  finding 
springs  of  fresh  water.  They  found  such  springs  at  the 
foot  of  Trimountaine,  favorably  situated  both  on  the 
south  of  the  present  State  street,  in  Spring  Lane,  and 
north  of  State  street  in  the  vicinity  of  Dock  Square. 
Accordingly,  the  first  buildings  in  the  town  were  erected 
near  those  points  as  centers,  facing  the  Great  Cove 
which  made  up  from  the  inner  harbor  and  indented  the 
northeast  side  of  the  peninsula.  So  the  new  town  was 
started  a  little  back  from  the  shore  of  the  Great  Cove, 
but  was  conveniently  placed  in  relation  to  the  ship  channel. 
This  advantageous  location  proved  an  inestimable  asset 
to  Boston  in  its  development  as  a  maritime  town. 

Early  visitors  to  Boston  were  inclined  to  dilate  upon  its 
natural  advantages.  Thus,  Wood,  who  visited  it  soon 
after  its  settlement,  says  its  "situation  is  very  pleasant 
...  It  being  a  Necke  and  bare  of  wood  they  are  not 


Boston  in  1650.  45 

troubled  with  three  great  annoyances  of  Woolves,  Rattle- 
snakes and  Musketoes."  At  the  same  time  he  notes 
that  "their  greatest  wants  be  Wood  and  Medow-ground 
being  constrayned  to  fetch  their  building  timber  and 
fire-wood  from  the  Hands  in  Boates,  and  their  Hay  in 
Loyters"  (lighters).  No  wonder  as  the  place  began  to 
fill  up  rapidly  with  newcomers,  the  General  Court  made 
generous  grants  of  noncontiguous  territory  to  Boston 
"for  its  enlargement."  None  the  less,  it  was  well  for 
the  first  settlers  that  they  did  not  have  to  expend  their 
energies  upon  clearing  their  Neck  of  forests  and  Indians. 
Following  is  a  condensed  description  of  the  harbor  as 
Neal  saw  it  in  1719: 

"This  Harbour  is  made  by  a  great  company  of  Hands 
whose  high  Cliffes  shoulder  out  the  boistrous  Seas.  .  .  . 
It  is  a  safe  and  pleasant  Harbour  within,  having  but  one 
common  and  safe  entrance,  and  that  not  very  broad; 
there  scarce  being  roome  for  three  ships  to  come  in  board- 
and-board  at  a  time,  but  being  once  within  there  is  roome 
for  the  Anchorage  of  500  Ships." 

Certain  of  Boston's  characteristics,  about  1650,  are 
set  forth  by  Johnson  in  his  "  Wonder-Working  Providence," 
thus: 

"The  chief e  Edifice  of  this  City-like  Towne  is  crowded 
on  the  Sea-bankes,  and  wharfed  out  with  great  industry 
and  cost,  the  buildings  beautifull  and  large,  some  fairely 
set  forth  with  Brick,  Tile,  Stone,  and  Slate,  and  orderly 
placed  with  comly  streets,  whose  continuall  inlargement 
presages  some  sumptuous  City.  .  .  .  Good  store  of  ship- 
ping is  here  yearly  built,  and  some  very  faire  ones:  both 
Tar  and  Mastes  the  Countrey  affords  from  its  own  soile; 
also  store  of  Victuall  both  for  their  owne  and  Forreiners- 
ships  who  resort  hither  for  that  end:  this  Town  is  the 
very  Mart  of  the  Land;  French,  Portugalls,  and  Dutch 
come  hither  for  Traffique." 


46  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Again,  Johnson  says: 

"Boston,  Charles-Town,  Salem,  and  Ipswitch,  our 
Maritan  Towns  began  to  encrease  roundly,  especially 
Boston,  the  which  of  a  poor  country  village,  in  thrice 
seven  years,  is  become  like  unto  a  small  City,  and  is  in 
election  to  be  a  Mayor  Town  suddainly,  chiefly  encreased 
by  Trade  by  Sea." 

Johnson  probably  alludes  to  the  petition  of  Boston  in 
1650,  to  be  incorporated  as  a  city,  a  request  that  was  not 
granted  by  the  General  Court.  Not  till  1822  did  Boston 
become  "a  Mayor  Town,"  although  projects  for  making 
it  one  were  brought  forward  in  1650,  1659,  1667,  1708, 
1744,  1762,  1784,  1791,  1804,  and  1815.  The  plans  for 
incorporation  were  mostly  rejected  by  the  people, —  so 
strong  was  their  preference  for  their  town  polity. 

In  general,  the  towns  of  1630,  in  their  ground  plan, 
conformed  with  the  type  introduced  by  the  Angles  and 
Saxons  into  Britain  from  Germany.  There  was  a  central 
or  nuclear  aggregation  of  homesteads  arranged  in  close 
lines  about  an  open  space,  or  on  both  sides  of  a  long  street, 
and  a  complex  of  outlying  fields  and  open  lands  held  in 
common. 

True  to  their  inherited  instincts  and  traditions,  the 
first  settlers  of  Boston  placed  their  houses  on  both  sides 
of  a  street  leading  up  from  the  waterfront.  The  western 
or  upper  part  of  this  Water  or  Market  street  as  it  was 
called  (now  State  street)  widened  out  into  a  market 
place,  including  about  three-fourths  of  an  acre  —  which 
itself  opened  into  the  High  street  that  ran  north  to 
Roxbury  along  the  line  of  the  present  Washington  street. 

As  the  extant  town  records  contain  no  entries  prior  to 
September  1,  1634,  and  the  records  of  the  Colony  are 
silent  on  the  subject,  we  cannot  tell  just  when  or  how  the 


Boston  Common.  47 

lands  of  Boston  Proper  were  first  allotted.  But  the  Boston 
records  from  1630  to  1640  are  mostly  concerned  with 
grants  of  house  lots,  garden  plots,  and  allotments  in  the 
planting  fields  and  commons;  the  regulation  of  fences 
and  the  pasturage  of  swine  and  cattle.  It  is  clear  that 
by  the  end  of  1634-35  there  were  four  common  fields 
enclosed  for  planting  within  the  Neck,  since  on  February  9 
the  town  meeting  ordered  that  all  fences  should  "be 
made  sufficient  before  the  second  day  of  the  second 
month, "  i.  e.,  April  2,  1635,  and  be  looked  to  by  overseers 
for  the  four  fields  that  were  named. 

Already,  on  November  10,  1634,  it  had  been  ordered 
by  the  town  that  five  men  named  should  "make  and  assess 
a  rate  of  £30  to  Mr.  Blackstone  .  .  .  and  to  make  a  rate 
for  the  young  cattle  and  cows  Keeper  at  Muddy  River' ' 
(Brookline).  The  "rate  to  Mr.  Blackstone"  was  to 
defray  the  purchase  of  fifty  acres  that  the  General  Court 
had  granted  him  to  hold  forever,  in  April,  1633.  Thus 
the  town  acquired  title  to  what  became  known  as  "The 
Common." 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  first  appropriation  by  the 
town  for  a  public  building  was  authorized  on  February 
23,  1635,  when  it  was  "agreed  that  there  shall  be  a  little 
house  built,  and  sufficiently  paled  yard  to  lodge  the  cattle 
in  of  nights  at  Pullen  point  neck"  before  the  14th  day  of 
April,  1635. 

The  Common  is  the  most  conspicuous  visible  memorial 
within  our  borders  of  the  primitive  conditions  that  marked 
the  beginnings  of  the  "poor  country  village  that  in  thrice 
seven  years  became  like  to  a  small  City."  It  is  at  once 
the  most  impressive  and  best  preserved  of  our  memorials. 
The  very  fact  that  it  has  been  preserved  with  so  little 
change  from  early  Colonial  times,  through  all  the  mar- 


48  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

vellous  growth  of  Boston,  in  territory,  in  population,  in 
wealth,  and  importance  as  a  port,  and  as  the  center  of 
political  and  civic  activities,  enhances  the  veneration 
and  affection  that  attach  to  the  Common  as  a  unique 
memorial  and  a  priceless  possession. 

The  Common  is  a  visible  reminder  of  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  town  was  settled  and  organized.  Boston's 
ancient  shore  line  was  obliterated  long  since  by  made 
land.  Centry  Hill  (Beacon  Hill)  has  been  reduced  to 
one-half  of  its  original  height,  and  bears  hardly  a  trace  of 
its  three-peaked  summit  that  suggested  the  name  of 
Trimountaine  for  the  whole  peninsula.  Mill  Hill  (Copp's 
Hill)  has  been  much  cut  down,  and  the  Fort  Hill  has 
utterly  disappeared,  but  The  Common  remains,  as  it  ever 
has  been,  a  distinctive  feature  of  the  ground  plan  of 
Boston. 

The  sky  line  and  shore  line  of  the  Boston  peninsula 
have  been  radically  modified,  owing  to  the  exigencies  of 
growth  and  progress.  The  original  coves  have  swal- 
lowed up  a  large  part  of  the  original  hills.  Thus  the  old 
Mill  Pond  or  North  Cove  was  filled  in,  beginning  in  1804, 
with  material  from  Beacon  Hill.  About  1825,  Copp's 
Hill  contributed  of  its  substance  to  the  filling  of  Com- 
mercial and  Fulton  Streets  in  the  Great  Cove,  and  fifty 
years  later,  Fort  Hill,  occupying  thirteen  acres,  was 
razed  to  the  street  level,  and  the  gravel  used  to  fill  in 
the  remainder  of  that  cove  inward  from  the  line  of  the 
present  Atlantic  Avenue. 

According  to  official  figures,  the  reclaimed  land  in 
Boston  Proper  on  January  1,  1894,  was  1,018  acres, 
resulting  from  the  following  operations,  viz.,  at  North 
Cove,  begun  1804,  70  acres;  West  Cove,  begun  1803, 
80  acres;  South  Cove,   1806-43,   186  acres;  Back  Bay, 


Boston's  Old  Coves.  49 

1857-94,  570  acres;  Great  Cove,  1823-74,  112  acres. 
The  probable  original  area  of  hard  land  in  Boston  Proper 
was  about  750  acres.  The  whole  area  of  the  town, 
according  to  the  first  official  survey  ordered  by  the  State 
in  1794,  was  783  acres. 

Here  and  there  within  the  area  adjacent  to  the  present 
business  section  of  the  city,  traces  of  the  original  highways 
and  lanes  of  Boston  Proper  can  be  made  out  by  an  anti- 
quarian. But  within  the  last  hundred  years,  owing  to 
the  extension  of  streets  into  the  reclaimed  districts,  the 
general  street  plan  of  Boston  has  been  radically  trans- 
formed. Changes  in  the  underground  plan  of  Boston 
have  also  been  numerous  and  radical,  owing  to  the  build- 
ing of  sewers,  the  extension  of  water  mains,  and  the  con- 
struction of  tunnels  and  subways. 

Two  circumstances  tended  to  enchance  the  importance 
of  the  infant  settlement  of  Boston,  viz.,  its  accessible* 
location,  in  relation  to  the  other  plantations,  and  the  fact 
that  Governor  Winthrop  had  his  home  in  it. 

Thus,  in  his  "New  England's  Prospect,"  Wood,  who 
visited  Boston  while  it  still  had  "rich  corne-fields  and 
fruitefull  Gardens,"  says 

"this  Towne  although  it  be  neither  the  greatest,  nor  the 
richest,  yet  it  is  the  most  noted  and  frequented,  being  the 
Center  of  the  Plantations  where  the  monthly  Courts  are 
kept.     Here  likewise  dwells  the  Governour." 

On  the  landward  side,  Boston  was  accessible  from 
Dorchester  and  Roxbury  by  the  High  Street  that  ran 
through  the  Neck  from  the  Market  Place  to  the  mainland. 
This  street  or  road  was  nearly  two  miles  in  length. 

To  reach  Boston  from  the  other  towns,  one  had,  till 
1661,  either  to  cross  one  or  more  tidal  rivers,  or  to  follow 


50  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

the  ship  channel;  consequently,  the  question  of  terminal 
facilities  for  handling  water-borne  traffic  had  to  be  met. 

Just  when  or  where  the  first  piers  were  built  cannot  be 
exactly  stated,  but  it  is  clear  that  there  was  a  common 
landing  place  on  the  shore  of  the  northern  sector  of  the 
Great  Cove  as  early  as  1634. 

The  first  entry  in  the  extant  records  of  Boston  is  dated 
September  1,  1634,  and  sets  forth  the  action  of  "the  10  men 
for  managing  the  affairs  of  the  town."  It  forbids  the 
"  laying  of  stones  and  logges  near  the  bridg  and  landing 
place,"  under  penalty  of  5  shillings  unless  they  were 
" marked  by  a  pole  or  a  beacon."  One  of  the  ten  was 
appointed  to  see  that  the  order  was  carried  out. 

The  landing  place  was  on  the  banks  of  a  creek  that 
made  up  as  far,  perhaps,  as  the  foot  of  the  present  Brattle 
.street.  This  secondary  cove,  which,  till  it  ceased  to  exist, 
was  generally  known  as  the  Town  Dock,  was  not  finally 
filled  in  until  the  extension  of  Faneuil  Hall  Market  was 
effectuated  in  the  period  1823-26.  In  the  early  days 
access  to  the  Town  Dock  from  the  Market  Place  was  had 
through  Shrimp  ton's  Lane  on  the  line  of  the  present 
Exchange  Street.  The  bridge  alluded  to  in  the  foregoing 
order  may  have  been  over  the  head  of  the  dock,  or  possibly 
one  of  the  bridges  over  the  Mill  Creek  which  connected  the 
cove  with  the  Mill  Pond.  North  and  South  Margin 
streets  and  Causeway  street  approximately  represent, 
at  present,  the  original  shores  of  the  Mill  Pond,  which 
took  its  name  from  the  tidal  grist  mills  on  its  borders. 
Mill  Hill,  later  called  Copp's  Hill,  was  early  utilized  for 
the  erection  of  wind  mills,  as  were  some  of  the  other  hills 
also. 

The  terms  North  End  and  South  End  are  still  in  common 
use.     Originally   they   served   to    designate   the   regions 


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FRANQUELIN  S    MANUSCRIPT     MAP      1693        THE     EARLIEST    KNOWN     MAP    OF    BOSTON     AND    ITS    VICINITY 


Early  Bridges  and  Ferries.  51 

separated  by  the  Mill  Creek, —  the  North  End  being 
really  an  island  and  not  the  tip  of  the  peninsula. 

Mill  Creek,  following  the  line  of  the  present  Blackstone 
street,  was  spanned  by  two  bridges:  One,  the  Mill  Bridge, 
was  a  fixed  bridge,  where  Hanover  street  now  runs,  and 
the  other,  a  swing  or  drawbridge,  connected  the  North 
and  South  Ends  on  the  line  of  what  is  now  called  North 
Street. 

It  is  noted  in  the  records  of  the  Court  of  Assistants, 
dated  14  June,  1631,  that 

"Edw:  Converse  hath  undertaken  to  sett  up  a  fiery 
betwixte  Charlton  &  Boston,  for  which  hee  is  to  have  ijd 
for  every  single  person,  &  Id.  apeece  if  there  be  2  or  more." 

This  ferry  seems  to  have  been  maintained  down  to  1786, 
when  it  was  superseded  by  Charles  River  Bridge,  1,503 
feet  long,  which  was  opened  with  much  ceremony  June  17, 
1786.  It  was  the  first  bridge  erected  to  connect  Boston 
with  the  mainland. 

The  tariff  of  tolls  for  the  ferriage  of  passengers  from 
Boston  to  Charlestown  and  Winnissimett  as  established 
by  the  Boston  Town  Meeting  in  February,  1635,  was  for 
one  person  Qd. ;  for  two  persons  Qd. ;  above  two  persons,  2d. 
a  person.  Two  years  later,  the  ferry  tolls  to  Noddle's 
Island  were  fixed  at  2d.  for  a  single  person;  3d.  for  two 
persons  and  Id.  apiece  for  more  than  two. 

In  the  absence  of  precise  information  as  to  the  capacity 
of  the  ferry  craft  of  primitive  Boston,  one  is  inclined  to 
wonder  what  means  were  taken  to  transport  "the  dry  and 
gelt  beasts,"  the  calves,  goats,  etc.,  to  the  summer  pas- 
tures at  Pullen  Point,  Muddy  River,  etc.  It  seems 
probable,  however,  that  our  forefathers  had  a  pretty 
effective  system  of  scows  or  lighters  for  transporting  cattle 


52  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

as  well  as  hay  and  wood.  The  Boston  terminus  of  the 
ferry  to  Charlestown  and  Winnissimett  was  on  the  Charles 
River,  at  the  base  of  the  Mill  Hill  and  at  the  foot  of  the 
present  Prince  street. 

The  first  shop  in  Boston  was  located  on  what  is  now  the 
northeast  corner  of  State  and  Washington  streets,  i.  e.,  it 
was  at  the  head  of  the  Market  Place,  in  whose  immediate 
neighborhood  the  business  or  financial  center  of  Boston 
has  remained  from  that  day  to  this. 

The  shipping  business  of  Boston  in  early  times  centered 
around  the  Town  Dock.  The  Town  was  liberal  in  its 
allotment  of  "cove  lots,"  and  in  the  privileges  of  wharfing 
granted  to  their  owners,  who  included  the  principal  men 
of  the  town.  Mention  is  made  from  time  to  time  of 
warehouses  belonging  to  the  Town  on  the  waterfront,  but 
the  improvement  of  that  front,  excepting  the  erection  of 
batteries  for  defensive  purposes,  was  largely  left  to  private 
initiative. 

In  1646  the  Town  leased  the  Town  Dock  to  an  associa- 
tion of  prominent  wharf  owners  and  merchants.  In 
1649,  the  reversion  of  the  lease,  which  was  to  run  eighty 
years  from  1646,  was  sold  by  the  Town  to  James  Everill 
for  £6  16s.  lOd.  per  annum  for  the  use  of  the  free  school. 
It  appears  that  the  lessees  spent  £818  in  improvements 
of  the  dock  in  the  period  1644-49. 

In  1710  the  lease  of  1649  was  surrendered  to  the  Town 
on  condition  that  the  Town  pay  the  lessee  £14  per  annum 
till  the  expiration  of  the  lease  in  1726.  In  1713-14  the 
Town  Dock  was  let  for  £28.  In  1785  it  was  claimed  on 
behalf  of  the  Town  that  it  had  expended  nearly  £2,000 
towards  filling  in  the  dock. 

In  March,  1822,  just  before  the  first  city  charter  was 
adopted,  a  committee  of  the  Selectmen  was  appointed  to 


Boston  Pier.  53 

take  legal  advice  on  the  subject  of  the  Town  Dock  and 
the  Town's  rights  in  it.  The  new  market-house  improve- 
ment, 1823-26,  led  to  the  filling  up  of  what  remained  of 
the  Town  Dock,  and  a  City  Wharf  was  established  upon 
the  shore  to  the  east  of  the  market  district. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  Town  ever  engaged  in  any 
extensive  improvement  of  the  waterfront  of  the  Great 
Cove  or  elsewhere.  The  erection  of  Boston  Pier  (Long 
Wharf)  from  the  tongue  of  land  at  the  foot  of  King  street 
(State  street)  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  was  a 
private  undertaking.  It  added  greatly  to  the  facilities 
of  the  port  and  to  the  fame  of  Boston  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic. 

In  1710  the  Town  authorized  six  associates  to  build  a 
pier.  It  was  stipulated  that  it  should  provide:  (1)  a 
public  way  thirty  feet  on  one  of  its  sides  for  the  use  of  the 
inhabitants  and  others  forever;  (2)  at  about  the  middle 
of  the  wharf,  a  gap  sixteen  feet  wide  "  covered  over,  for 
boats  and  lighters  to  pass  and  repass";  and  (3)  that  the 
head  of  the  wharf  should  be  left  free  for  the  town  to  place 
guns  on  if  the  need  of  defence  should  arise.  Such  were 
the  conditions  on  which  "the  Freeholders  and  other 
Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Boston"  conveyed  their  rights 
at  the  March  meeting  in  1710  in  the  wharf  and  flats  "unto 
low  water  mark"  to  the  projectors  of  the  Long  Wharf. 

The  erection  of  Long  Wharf  was  a  notable  achievement, 
and  served  to  shift  the  center  of  the  shipping  interest 
from  the  Town  Dock  to  the  foot  of  King  street.  In  a 
sense,  the  Long  Wharf  was  an  extension  o'f  King  street 
to  the  ship  channel,  so  that  there  resulted  a  direct  road- 
way from  deep  water  into  the  Market  Place. 

Daniel  Neal,  who  visited  Boston  in  1719,  characterized 
Boston  as  "the  most  flourishing  Town  for  Trade  and 


54  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Commerce  in  English  America."  He  quotes  official 
returns  of  the  "  Collectors  of  His  Majesty's  Customs"  to 
show  that  "  there  was  24,000  Ton  of  Shipping  cleared 
annually"  at  Boston. 

In  this  connection  the  following  extract  from  Neal  is 
of  interest: 

"  At  the  Bottom  of  the  Bay  is  a  noble  Pier,  1800  or  2000 
Foot  long,  with  a  Row  of  Ware-houses  on  the  North 
Side,  for  the  Use  of  Merchants.  The  Pier  runs  so  far 
into  the  Bay,  that  Ships  of  the  Greatest  Burthen  may 
unlade  without  the  Help  of  Boats  or  Lighters.  From 
the  Head  of  the  Pier  you  go  up  the  chief  Street  of  the 
Town,  at  the  Upper  End  of  which  is  the  Town  House  or 
Exchange,  a  fine  piece  of  Building,  containing  besides 
the  Walk  for  the  Merchants,  the  Council  Chamber,  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  another  spacious  Room  for  the 
Sessions  of  the  Courts  of  Justice.  The  Exchange  is  sur- 
rounded with  Booksellers  Shops,  which  have  a  good 
Trade.  There  are  five  Printing-Presses  in  Boston,  which 
are  generally  full  of  Work,  by  which  it  appears,  that 
Humanity  and  Knowledge  of  Letters  flourish  more  here 
than  in  all  the  other  English  Plantations  put  together; 
for  in  the  City  of  New  York  there  is  but  one  Bookseller's 
Shop,  and  in  the  Plantations  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  Caro- 
lina, Barbadoes,  and  the  Islands,  none  at  all." 

The  estimated  population  of  Boston  in  1719,  according 
to  Neal,  was  " about  20,000."  This  was  an  overesti- 
mate as  the  first  census  of  Boston,  made  in  1722,  after 
an  epidemic  of  smallpox,  found  only  10,567  inhabitants, 
of  whom  4,549  were  north  and  6,018  south  of  Mill  Creek. 
Recent  deaths,  from  smallpox  amounted  to  844. 

Neal's  observations  were  both  complimentary  and 
informing.     Thus  he  says: 

"The  Town  of  Boston  lies  in  the  Form  of  a  half  Moon 
round  the  Harbour,  the  surrounding  Shore  being  high, 


Boston's  Streets  in  1719  and  1916.  55 

and  affording  a  very  agreeable  Prospect.  A  considerable 
Part  of  the  Peninsula  upon  which  the  Town  stands,  is 
not  yet  built  upon;  but  yet  there  are  at  present  twenty- 
two  Allies,  thirty-six  Lanes,  forty-two  Streets,  and  in  all 
together  about  three  thousand  Houses,  several  of  which 
for  the  Beauty  of  the  Buildings  may  compare  with  most 
in  the  City  of  London.  The  Town  is  well  paved,  and 
several  of  the  Streets  as  wide  and  spacious  as  can  be 
desired." 

At  the  present  writing,  February,  1916,  the  paved  and 
accepted  streets  of  Boston  amount  to  2,357  in  number, 
with  an  aggregate  length  of  593.62  miles,  94.67  miles  of 
streets  being  accredited  to  the  City  Proper. 

Booming  Boston  began  early.  Mr.  William  Burgis, 
an  enterprising  bookseller,  in  1723  published  a  "South 
East  View  of  Ye  Great  Town  of  Boston,"  which  is  char- 
acterized as  "the  Capital  of  New  England,  and  Mistress 
of  America." 

"New  England,"  he  says,  "is  become  one  of  the  most 
Delightful  Countrys  in  the  World;  the  Winter  being 
now  Moderate  and  pleasant  by  Reason  of  the  Clearing 
of  the  Woods;  in  the  West  and  North  West  parts  of  the 
inland  Countrys,  the  air  is  Exceedingly  Clear  and  pleas- 
ant, Perfectly  well  Agreeing  with  the  English  Constitu- 
tions; for  which  Reason  the  Gentlemen  of  the  West 
India  Islands  often  go  thither  to  Recover  their  Healths." 

Burgis' s  view  shows  the  location  of  no  less  than 
fourteen  ship  yards  in  the  town. 

The  natural  advantages  of  Boston  as  a  seaport  and  rail- 
road center  in  our  own  day  were  comprehensively  set 
forth  by  the  City  Surveyor  of  Boston,  in  1893,  as  follows: 

"Boston  is  the  only  direct  seaport  outlet,  by  position 
and  other  great  natural  advantages  resulting  from  its 
excellent  and  sheltered  harbor,  of  all  the  section  of  country 


56  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

comprised  within  the  territory  of  the  New  England 
States,  the  Great  Northwest,  and  the  Canadian  Provinces 
lying  north  and  east  of  the  Great  Lakes. 

"The  original  shore  line  of  the  city  proper  so  favored 
railroad  approaches,  that  within  a  circle  described  by  a 
radius  of  less  than  half  a  mile  around  the  business  center 
of  the  city  are  located  the  great  terminal  stations  of  the 
Fitchburg,  the  Boston  &  Maine,  the  New  York,  New 
Haven,  &  Hartford,  the  Boston  &  Albany,  and  the  New 
York  &  New  England  railroads  (on  lands  reclaimed  from 
the  sea),  so  that  it  may  be  said  that  these  great  arteries 
connecting  the  city  with  the  territory  drained  by  these 
trunks,  their  branches,  feeders,  and  connecting  lines, 
penetrate  to  the  very  heart  of  the  business  community; 
an  advantage  of  no  mean  importance  in  measuring  the 
situation  from  the  standpoint  of  the  commercial  competi- 
tion of  our  nearest  neighbors. 

"Thus  to  inland  commerce,  the  city  proper  occupies  a 
concentric  location  much  resembling  the  hub  of  a  wheel, 
from  which  these  trunk  lines  of  railroad  radiate  like  spokes, 
while  to  international  trade  the  same  section  lies  in  an 
eccentric  position  to  the  great  ship  basin,  a  combination 
which,  for  rapid  and  economic  distribution,  could  not 
well  be  excelled  in  this  age  of  concentration  and  economy 
of  time  and  space." 

The  fact  that  Boston  is  still  the  capital  of  Massachusetts, 
as  it  has  been  throughout  most  of  its  history,  gives  it  a 
unique  position  among  the  great  cities  of  the  country. 
The  first  meeting  of  the  Great  and  General  Court  of  the 
Bay  Company  was  held  in  Boston  "for  the  establishing 
of  the  government "  on  October  19,  1630.  Yet  the  only 
formal  action  tantamount  to  making  it  the  capital,  that 
can  be  adduced,  is  the  following  entry  in  the  record 
of  a  Court  of  Assistants  held  on  October  3,  1632,  which 
reads : 

"It  is  thought  by  generall  consent  that  Boston  is  the 
fittest  for  publique  meetinge  of  any  place  in  the  Bay." 


Governor  Must  Live  in  Boston.  57 

The  following  order  of  the  General  Court,  dated  May 
23,  1655,  may  be  construed,  perhaps,  as  a  recognition 
that  Boston  had  became  the  capital  of  the  Commonwealth 
by  the  process  of  natural  selection : 

"It  is  ordred  that  who  soever  shall  be  chosen  Gounor, 
shall  with  the  first  oppertunity  make  his  abode  in  Boston, 
or  some  adjacent  towne  or  place  within  foure  or  fiue 
miles  of  Boston,  &  shall  there  contynue  his  abode 
dureing  the  tyme  of  his  goument." 

Both  Charlestown  and  Newe  Towne  were  aggrieved 
by  Governor  Winthrop's  choice  of  Boston  as  his  place 
of  residence.  After  Winthrop  was  left  out  of  the  governor- 
ship, in  1634,  the  General  Court  met  rather  frequently 
at  Newe  Towne.  Party  spirit  ran  high  in  1637,  when  the 
Court  of  Elections  was  held  under  a  tree  in  the  present 
Cambridge  Common.  The  election  that  resulted  in  the 
recall  of  Vane  and  the  election  of  Winthrop  was  almost 
riotous.  Sewall  states  in  his  Diary  that  his  father  walked 
forty  miles  in  order  to  vote  for  Winthrop. 

Although  Cambridge  endeavored  to  thwart  Boston's 
manifest  destiny,  the  records  show  that  by  far  the  greater 
number  of  courts  of  election  were  held  at  Boston  in  the 
period  1635-49. 

Meanwhile,  owing  to  changes  in  the  system  of  judi- 
cature and  the  establishment  of  counties,  Boston  had 
become  the  seat  of  the  highest  or  appellate  court  within 
the  Colony.  In  1636,  quarterly  courts,  to  be  presided 
over  by  at  least  one  of  the  Magistrates,  were  established 
for  the  trial  of  minor  civil  and  criminal  causes  at  Ipswich, 
Salem,  Newe  Towne  and  Boston.  In  addition,  four 
" Great  Quarter  Courts,"  consisting  of  "the  Governor 
and  the  rest  of  the  Magistrates,"  were  appointed  to  be 
held  at  Boston.     Probably  the  sessions  of  these  courts, 


58  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

as  well  as  those  of  the  General  Court,  were  held  in  the 
meeting  house  of  the  First  Church  of  Boston,  which  was 
located  on  the  Market  Place. 

In  1643  the  whole  jurisdiction  was  subdivided  into  four 
shires,  for  military  as  well  as  judicial  purposes,  and 
Boston  became  the  shire  town  of  Suffolk  County,  and 
has  remained  so  ever  since. 

In  1659  the  first  Town  House  of  Boston  was  completed. 
It  was  a  combination  of  town,  market  and  court  house, 
and  soon  became  the  recognized  seat  of  the  Colonial 
Government.  It  was  the  seat  of  the  town  government 
until  the  town  offices  were  removed  to  Faneuil  Hall, 
which  was  erected  at  the  head  of  the  Town  Dock  in  1742. 
The  Town  House  occupied  most  of  the  area  now  covered 
by  the  "Old  State  House"  at  the  head  of  State  street. 

The  settlers  of  Boston  made  the  market  place  a  prom- 
inent feature  in  their  town  plan.  State  street  of  our  day 
appears  at  first  to  have  been  called  interchangeably  the 
Water  Street  and  the  Market  Street.  Its  widest  part, 
covering  hardly  three-quarters  of  an  acre,  where  it  opened 
into  the  main  street  or  highway  to  Roxbury,  soon  became 
known  as  the  market  stead,  or  market  place.  Allusion  to 
it  as  the  Market  Place  is  found  in  the  Town  records  as 
early  as  1636.  From  1633,  when  the  General  Court 
ordered  that  a  market  should  be  kept  in  Boston  every 
Thursday,  till  1733,  when  the  town  voted  that  a  market 
house  for  the  middle  of  the  town  should  be  erected  in 
Dock  Square,  the  original  market  place  was  the  political 
and  business  center  of  Boston. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  place,  or  just  below  it,  Governor 
Winthrop  had  his  residence  for  a  time.  On  the  same  side 
the  meeting  house  of  the  First  Church,  in  which  town 
meetings   were   held  for  many  years,  stood  where  the 


First  Town  House,  1658.  59 


Brazer  Building  now  stands.  On  the  southwest  corner 
Capt.  Robert  Keayne,  perhaps  the  leading  merchant  and 
money  lender  of  the  town,  had  his  house  and  garden. 
The  first  shop  built  in  Boston  is  said  to  have  stood  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  market  place,  and  "down  the  street 
were  the  lots  of  Rev.  John  Wilson  (pastor  of  the  First 
Church)  and  seven  others."  Westerly,  although  not 
immediately  adjoining  the  market  place,  was  the  prison 
yard,  at  the  head  of  the  present  Court  square. 

In  1640  the  meeting-house  was  sold  and  a  new  one  built 
on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Rogers  Building,  just  west 
of  the  market  place.  Some  persons  wished  to  put  the 
new  meeting  house  on  "the  green,"  near  the  site  of  the 
present  Old  South  Church,  but,  as  Governor  Winthrop 
tells  us,  "Others  viz.  the  tradesmen  especially  who  dwelt 
about  the  market  place  desired  it  might  stand  still  near 
the  market,  lest  in  time  it  should  divert  the  chief  trade 
from  thence."  Even  to  this  day  the  center  of  the  chief 
trade  has  scarcely  shifted  from  its  original  seat. 

Captain  Keayne,  who  died  in  1656,  bequeathed  £300 
to  the  town  for  a  market  house  and  a  conduit  to  be  erected 
in  the  market  place  "in  the  heart  of  the  towne,"  conceiving 
that  the  market  house  would  ■ — 

"  be  usefull  for  the  country  people  that  come  with  their 
provisions,  for  the  supply  of  the  towne,  that  they  may  have 
a  place  to  sitt  dry  in  and  warme  both  in  cold  raine  and 
durty  weather  &  may  have  a  place  to  leave  their  corne  or 
any  other  things  safe  that  they  cannot  sell,  till  they  come 
again  .  .  .  also  to  have  some  convenient  room  or  too  for 
the  Courts  to  meete  in  .  .  .  and  so  for  the  Townes  men  & 
Commissioners  of  the  Towne." 

So  the  first  Town  House  was  built  in  1657-58  out  of  the 
proceeds  of  Keayne's  bequest  and  from  funds  privately 


60  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

subscribed,  which  amounted  to  nearly  £400  more.  The 
house,  66  feet  long  and  33  feet  wide,  was  of  wood,  and  was 
set  upon  twenty-one  pillars  10  feet  high,  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Old  State  House.  In  its  structural  features,  as 
well  as  the  uses  to  which  it  was  put,  the  Town  House 
conformed  closely  with  the  type  then  common  in  the  old 
country.  The  space  under  the  structure  within  the  pillars 
was  used  as  an  exchange  —  "chambers"  being  provided 
upstairs  for  the  courts  and  for  town  officials.  It  continued 
to  be  the  seat  of  the  town  government  till  1742,  when 
Faneuil  Hall  superseded  it  as  a  market  and  town  house. 
By  order  of  the  General  Court  one-half  the  cost  of  repairing 
it  in  1667  and  1671  and  of  rebuilding  it  after  it  was  burned 
in  1711  and  again  in  1747  was  borne  by  the  Province,  the 
other  half  being  equally  shared  by  the  County  and  the 
Town.  The  state  offices  were  removed  to  the  new  State 
House  in  1798.  From  1830  to  1841  the  Old  State  House 
served  as  the  City  Hall. 

It  is  remarkable  how  slightly  the  civic  center  of  Boston 
has  shifted  from  its  original  location.  Its  situation  since 
the  founding  of  the  town  may  be  summarily  stated  as 
follows:  (1)  For  one  hundred  and  twelve  years,  %..  e., 
1630-1742,  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  town  was 
on  or  in  the  Market  Place,  and  for  the  last  eighty-three 
years  of  that  period  in  the  Town  House;  (2)  for  eighty 
years,  i.  e.,  1742-1822,  it  was  in  Faneuil  Hall,  at  the  head 
of  the  Town  Dock;  (3)  from  1822-30  the  offices  of  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council  were  in  the  Old  Stone  Court 
House,  known,  too,  as  Johnson  Hall,  on  School  street; 
(4)  from  1830-41  the  Old  State  House,  at  the  head  of 
State  street,  served  as  the  City  Hall;  (5)  from  1841  till 
the  present  day  (about  seventy-five  years)  the  seat  of  the 
city  government  has  remained  in  School  street,  and  for 


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Beginnings  of  Court  Square.  61 

over  fifty  years  in  the  present  City  Hall,  which  was 
dedicated  on  September  18,  1865. 

In  other  words,  speaking  broadly,  in  the  two  hundred 
and  eighty-six  years  since  Boston  was  settled,  the  seat  of 
government  was  for  two  hundred  and  three  years  where 
it  originally  struck  root,  within  the  limits  of  the  original 
Market  Place;  for  eighty  years  it  was  in  the  Faneuil 
Hall  Market  House,  and  for  eighty-three  years  it  has 
been  on  School  street.  It  has  always  been  in  or  near  the 
financial  center,  and  its.  migratory  movements  have  all 
taken  place  within  a  circle  of  hardly  more  than  300 
yards'  radius.  The  present  offices  of  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  are  850  feet  nearer  the  site  of  the  first  Town  House 
than  were  the  Selectmen's  Rooms  in  Faneuil  Hall. 

There  is  only  one  lot  of  land  belonging  to  the  City  in 
Boston  Proper  that  has  been  continuously  devoted  to  public 
uses  since  it  was  set  off  from  common  land  in  the  early 
days  of  the  town.  It  is  covered  by  the  Court  street  end 
of  the  present  City  Hall  Annex,  and  was  originally  included 
within  the  Prison  Yard.  On  October  3,  1632,  the  Court 
of  Assistants  ordered,  "That  there  shall  be  a  house  of 
correction  and  a  house  for  the  beadle  built  at  Boston." 

Inasmuch  as  the  order  by  the  same  Court  "That  a 
market  shall  be  kept  at  Boston  upon  every  Thursday"  is 
dated  March  4,  1634,  it  is  probable  that  the  Prison  Yard 
was  older  than  the  Market  Place.  The  Prison  Lane  ran 
westerly  from  the  Market  Place  on  the  line  of  the  present 
Court  street.  The  prison  was.  hardly  more  than  100 
yards  distant  from  the  Market  Place. 

In  1754  an  office  for  the  Probate  Court  was  built  in  the 
Prison  Yard.  In  1767  that  office  was  demolished  and  a 
courthouse,  first  opened  in  1769,  was  erected  on  its  site. 
From  that  date  till  the  "  Old  Court  House"  was  demolished 


62  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

in  1911,  to  provide  a  site  for  the  present  City  Hall  Annex, 
there  was  always  a  courthouse  on  this  site.  The  Old 
Stone  Court  House,  so  called,  on  School  street,  was 
another  building,  erected  in  1810. 

But  Keayne's  Town  House,  as  it  was  sometimes  called, 
remained  the  seat  of  the  General  Court  from  1659  till 
1798,  when  the  present  State  House  became  the  seat  of 
the  State  Government.  In  1787  the  town  bought  "  Fos- 
ter's Pasture,"  at  the  corner  of  the  present  Boylston  and 
Tremont  streets,  with  the  intention  of  presenting  it  to 
the  State  as  a  site  for  a  new  State  House.  The  Foster  lot 
was  ultimately  incorporated  within  the  limits  of  The 
Common,  and  in  1794-95  the  town  bought  Governor 
Hancock's  pasture  on  Beacon  Hill,  and  presented  it  to 
the  State.  Accordingly,  the  new  State  House  was  erected 
there  in  the  interval  1795-98. 

In  1803  the  city  acquired  by  purchase,  from  the  State 
and  the  counties  of  Suffolk  and  Norfolk,  all  right  and  title 
to  the  Old  State  House.  From  1803  to  1829  the  Old 
State  House  was  leased  for  business  and  other  offices. 
In  1830  it  was  fitted  up  as  the  City  Hall,  and  was  occupied 
as  such  till  1841,  when  the  building  was  again  abandoned 
to  business  purposes.  In  1881-82  business  offices  were 
again  banished  from  the  Old  State  House;  the  structure 
was  restored,  and  it  has  been  maintained  ever  since  as 
a  historical  monument.  A  portion  of  it  is  now  utilized 
as  a  station  of  the  Washington  Street  Tunnel,  but  the 
upper  floors  are  occupied  by  the  Bostonian  Society  as  a 
museum. 

For  a  century  and  a  half  immediate  access  to  Boston 
across  the  Charles  River  was  had  only  by  means  of  ferry- 
boats. Meanwhile,  the  town  of  Cambridge  built  a  bridge 
at  the  cost  of  £200  across  the  Charles  River  from  Cam- 


Boston's  Bridges,  1786-1915.  63 

bridge  to  Little  Cambridge,  so  called,  which  later  became 
the  town  of  Brighton.  This  bridge,  which  was  completed 
in  1662,  was  known  as  the  "  Great  Bridge,"  and  was  the 
only  traffic  bridge  across  Charles  River  until  the  opening 
of  the  Charles  River  Bridge  from  Charlestown  to  Boston 
that  was  completed  in  1786.  So,  for  nearly  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  years  prior  to  1786,  wheeled  vehicles  from 
the  towns  north  of  the  Charles  could  reach  Boston  only 
by  way  of  the  Great  Bridge  and  the  road  through  Muddy 
River  (Brookline),  which  connected  it  with  the  road  from 
Roxbury  into  Boston.  The  site  of  the  Great  Bridge  from 
Cambridge  is  now  occupied  by  the  North  Harvard  Street 
Bridge,  in  the  Brighton  district. 

The  Charles  River  Bridge,  opened  in  1786,  was  a  toll 
bridge,  and  the  property  of  a  private  corporation.  So, 
too,  was  the  West  Boston  Bridge  that  was  opened  for 
travel  in  1793,  and  the  Canal  or  Craigie  Bridge,  that  was 
opened  in  August,  1809. 

In  1858  the  three  bridges  named  were  made  free 
bridges.  All  crossed  the  Charles  River,  and  served  to 
greatly  facilitate  access  from  the  landward  towns  to 
Boston. 

At  present  there  are  154  bridges  in  Boston,  of  which  45 
are  maintained  by  railroad  corporations.  The  main- 
tenance of  64  is  met  wholly  by  the  City  of  Boston,  which 
shares  the  expense  of  maintaining  42  more.  There  are 
also  3  bridges  maintained  by  the  Metropolitan  Park 
Commission.  In  the  fiscal  year  1914-15,  the  maintenance 
of  Boston's  bridge  service  cost  $301,712,  and  $195,373 
were  expended  for  bridge  construction. 

In  respect  to  ferry  service,  it  may  be  added  that  tolls 
and  other  income  for  the  year  1914-15  amounted  to 
$105,913,  while  the  expenditures  amounted  to  $293,671. 


64  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Foot  passengers  carried  on  the  ferries  numbered  6,024,967, 
and  vehicles,  979,352.  It  should  be  noted  that  East 
Boston  (Noddle's  and  Hogg  islands)  is  connected  with 
the  Boston  tunnel  and  subways  by  a  tunnel  under  the 
harbor.  Passengers  carried  through  this  tunnel  numbered 
17,218,206  in  the  same  year,  yielding  revenue  from  tolls  of 
$148,410.  On  February  7, 1916,  the  collection  of  ferry  tolls 
from  passengers  through  the  East  Boston  Tunnel  ceased. 

The  City  of  Boston  maintains  two  ancient  public 
markets  whose  rents  have  been  a  source  of  considerable 
revenue  for  nearly  three  generations.  While  Boston  was 
a  town  it  made  several  attempts  to  reduce  the  cost  of  the 
necessaries  of  life.  Aside  from  improving  its  market 
houses,  since  Boston  became  a  city,  in  1822,  it  has 
attempted  little  and  accomplished  less  towards  lowering 
the  cost  of  living  within  its  borders. 

The  records  of  Boston  abound  in  orders  intended  to 
prevent  forestallers  and  regrators  from  exacting  unreason- 
able prices  for  provisions,  but  the  frequent  reiteration  of 
such  orders  and  the  nature  of  the  complaints  which  led 
to  their  passage  indicates  that  they  were  more  honored  in 
their  breach  than  by  their  observance. 

The  Selectmen  of  Boston  were  accustomed  periodically 
to  prescribe  the  weight  of  the  loaf  of  marketable  bread 
according  to  the  price  of  grain  and  the  kind  of  bread.  We 
find  the  assize  of  bread  proclaimed  by  the  Selectmen  as 
late  as  1798. 

During  most  of  the  eighteenth  century  Boston  bought 
grain  at  wholesale  and  sold  it  at  retail  to  the  people  of 
the  town;  thus  on  March  14,  1715,  the  Town  authorized 
the  Selectmen  to  (1)  borrow  money  for  the  purchase  of 
3,000  bushels  of  Indian  corn,  500  bushels  of  rye  and  500 
bushels  of  wheat  and  (2)  to  procure  convenient  places 


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The  Town  Granary,  1728-95.  65 

for  storing  it.  Three  months  later  the  Town  voted  to 
apply  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  certain  common  lands, 
amounting  to  £1,500,  to  "the  purchasing  of  corn  and 
other  provisions  as  the  Town  shall  direct."  Whatever 
loss  might  accrue  was  to  be  made  good  by  the  Town  so 
that  the  fund  should  not  be  exhausted.  By  1774  the  fund 
was  reduced  to  about  £150. 

In  1728  the  Town  voted  to  build  "a  Granary  in  the 
Common  near  the  Alms  House,"  and  appropriated  £1,100 
for  the  purpose.  Accordingly  a  granary  capable  of  holding 
12,000  bushels  of  grain  was  erected  in  The  Common.  It 
remained  in  charge  of  the  Committee  for  the  Buying  of 
Grain  till  1783,  when  the  committee  was  discontinued. 
The  committee,  which  was  chosen  annually  by  the  Town, 
set  the  retail  price  of  the  grain,  which  was  sold  by  the 
Keeper  of  the  Granary,  who  was  accustomed  to  present 
his  accounts  to  the  Town  annually  in  the  month  of  March. 

The  Town  voted  in  1795  to  sell  the  Granary  and  the 
land  on  which  it  stood.  It  is  said  that  the  building  was 
removed  in  1809  and  turned  into  a  hotel. 

In  1741  the  Town  chose  a  committee  of  three  "to  invest 
£700  in  Cord  wood,  at  the  most  reasonable  rate,  to  be 
laid  in  some  convenient  places  at  each  end  and  in  the 
middle  of  the  Town;  in  order  to  supply  the  inhabitants 
as  the  necessities  of  the  season  shall  call  for."  Other 
measures  for  securing  fire  wood  at  reasonable  rates  for 
the  benefit  of  the  people  could  be  cited. 

The  year  1779  was  one  of  great  distress  and  scarcity 
and  signalized  by  rapid  depreciation  of  the  currency  and 
ruinous  enhancement  of  prices.  The  authorities  of  Boston 
took  unusual  measures  to  regulate  the  prices  of  provisions 
and  almost  all  other  commodities  as  well.  Thus  the 
Town  voted  "That  shops  or  stalls  be  opened  in  the  several 


66  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

parts  of  the  Town  for  supplying  the  inhabitants  with 
butchers'  meat";  and  the  Selectmen  were  directed  "to 
publish  an  Advertisement  acquainting  the  Publick  that 
Slaughter  Houses  are  provided  by  the  Town  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  People  in  the  Country  who  may 
send  their  Creatures  to  this  Market  for  the  Supply  of  the 
Inhabitants."  The  price  of  flour  was  set  at  £30  per 
hundred  weight;  and  that  of  fire  wood  at  from  £13  10s.  to 
£23  per  cord  according  to  quality.  The  Selectmen  were 
empowered  to  build  fish  stalls  near  the  market  place,  to 
fix  the  prices  of  fish,  and  to  make  "  arrangements  with 
those  that  may  be  ready  to  supply  this  Market  with  Fish." 
In  addition,  the  Granary  was  set  apart  as  a  magazine 
or  general  store  for  the  sale  of  groceries  and  provisions  at 
regulated  retail  prices  to  the  inhabitants. 

Speaking  broadly,  Boston  has  always  had  a  system  of 
public  markets.  The  first  settlers  laid  out  their  town 
around  a  market  place,  in  which  a  market  house  was 
erected  in  1657-58,  at  a  cost  of  £700  provided  by 
Keayne's  bequest  and  private  contributions. 

In  1733  market  houses  were  erected  in  Dock  Square 
and  at  the  North  and  South  Ends.  In  1737  a  mob 
demolished  the  Center  Market,  in  Dock  Square,  and 
those  at  the  North  and  South  Ends  were  soon  discon- 
tinued on  recommendation  of  the  Selectmen.  But  the 
principal  market  place  remained  at  the  head  of  the  Town 
Dock,  where  Peter  Faneuil,  an  opulent  merchant,  offered 
in  1740  to  build  a  market  house  if  the  town  would  pro- 
vide for  its  maintenance  and  regulation.  The  Town 
grudgingly  accepted  the  offer  by  a  majority  of  seven  in 
a  total  vote  of  727.  To  secure  that  majority  the  friends 
of  the  market  had  to  resort  to  sharp  practice  and  debar 
delinquent  taxpayers  from  voting.     Market  regulations 


.affile 

mm 


...Iliiii 


FANEUIL     HALL,     "THE     CRADLE    OF     LIBERTY. 


Public  Market  Houses.  67 

were  frequently  a  bone  of  contention,  both  before  and 
after  the  erection  of  Faneuil  Hall. 

The  new  market  house,  which  contained  a  large  hall 
and  offices  for  the  town  officials,  was  opened  in  1742.  It 
was  named  Faneuil  Hall.  This  structure,  which  was  of 
brick,  was  two  and  a  half  stories  high  and  100  feet  long  by 
40  feet  wide.  Access  to  the  market  space,  under  the  hall, 
was  had  on  all  sides  through  archways  of  brick.  The 
building  was  rebuilt  in  1762-63,  after  its  destruction  by 
fire;  and  in  1805  its  width  was  doubled  and  a  third  story 
added,  at  a  cost  of  over  $50,000.  After  the  New  Faneuil 
Hall  Market,  generally  known  as  the  Quincy  Market,  was 
opened  in  1826,  the  market  under  Faneuil  Hall  was  dis- 
continued for  many  years.  In  1858  it  was  reopened  and 
its  stalls  have  been  leased  to  market  men,  from  time  to 
time,  ever  since. 

Both  the  Quincy  and  Faneuil  Hall  market  houses 
belong  to  the  enclosed  type  of  market  house,  and  contain 
permanent  stalls,  with  cellars  underneath.  The  Quincy 
Market,  so  called,  is  a  granite  edifice,  two  stories  high. 
It  is  535  feet  in  length  by  50  feet  in  width.  The  second 
story  is  occupied  by  offices,  most  of  which,  e.  g.}  that  of 
the  Produce  Exchange,  are  leased  for  other  than  market 
purposes.  The  original  cost  of  the  building  (on  which 
about  $241,600  have  been  spent  for  alterations  and  repairs) 
was  $150,000. 

This  market  improvement,  which  was  completed  in 
1826,  gave  Boston  the  finest  market  house  in  the  country, 
at  a  time  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  numbered  only 
some  56,000  souls.  The  undertaking,  which  met  with 
considerable  opposition,  involved  the  purchase  and  demo- 
lition of  numerous  stores  and  wharves  and  the  filling  in  of 
the  Town  Dock  and  adjacent  flats.     As  a  result  the  city 


68  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

acquired:  (1)  a  spacious  and  well  appointed  market 
house,  covering  27,000  feet  of  land;  (2)  six  new  streets 
and  the  enlargement  of  a  seventh,  including  167,000  feet 
of  land;  (3)  salable  building  lots  covering  26,000  feet; 
besides  (4)  flats  and  dock  and  wharf  rights  to  142,000 
square  feet. 

The  financial  results  of  the  Quincy  Market  improve- 
ment, 1825-1911,  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

Receipts $6,620,653 

Expenditures 2,474,191 


Excess  of  receipts       .        .        .        .  $4,146,462 

Receipts  include  $1,178,753  from  sales  of  land;  and 
expenditures  include  $1,240,281  for  land  and  buildings, 
in  addition  to  $241,665  for  repairs  and  alterations. 

The  financial  results  of  the  erection  of  Faneuil  Hall 
and  the  maintenance  at  intervals  of  a  public  market 
under  it  cannot  be  set  forth  with  the  same  completeness 
as  for  the  Quincy  Market  House,  which  was  originally 
authorized  as  "an  extension  of  Faneuil  Hall  Market." 
No  authoritative  statement  of  the  cost  of  Peter  Faneuil's 
gift  to  the  town  in  1742  has  come  down  to  us;  and  a 
clear  statement  of  the  cost  of  rebuilding  after  the  fire 
of  1761  —  mostly  out  of  the  proceeds  of  a  public  lottery  — 
cannot  be  found.  However,  it  appears  that  the  gross 
receipts  of  the  hall  and  market  amounted  to  $570,474 
against  total  expenditures  of  $255,289  for  the  period 
1890-1911,  yielding  a  net  income  of  $315,185. 

Counting  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  two 
market  houses  we  have  the  following  aggregates:  Re- 
ceipts, $2,398,007;  expenditures,  $577,213;  net  income, 
$1,820,794. 


The  Old  State  House.  69 

For  the  five  years  1910-11  and  1914-15  receipts  from 
the  two  market  houses  have  averaged  $123,343  and 
expenditures  $12,249. 

The  Old  State  House  is  more  intimately  associated 
with  the  history  of  Boston  than  any  building  now  stand- 
ing. Faneuil  Hall  was  rebuilt  in  1762,  and  the  Old  South 
Meeting  House  was  built  in  1729;  each  of  them  was  the 
scene  of  important  events  during  the  Provincial  and 
Revolutionary  periods;  but  neither  of  them  played  any 
part  in  the  history  of  the  Colonial  Commonwealth  or  of 
the  Dominion  of  New  England. 

Although  Faneuil  Hall  became  the  seat  of  town  govern- 
ment after  the  town's  books  and  papers  were  taken  there 
in  October,  1742,  by  vote  of  the  Town,  the  term  Town 
House  clung  to  the  structure,  which  was  often  called  the 
Court  House  and  less  frequently  the  State  House  even 
before  the  Revolution.  Thus  in  1770  the  General  Court 
when  convened  at  Cambridge  protested  that  the  writs 
had  specified  that  it  was  "to  be  held  at  the  Town  House 
in  Boston."  Inasmuch  as  the  most  significant  events  of 
which  it  was  the  scene  related  to  the  government  of  the 
Commonwealth  or  the  Province,  we  prefer  in  this  con- 
nection to  designate  the  building  as  the  Old  State  House. 

The  Old  State  House  was  the  scene  of  many  momentous 
and  stirring  events.  Thither  Sir  Edmond  Andros  was 
escorted  by  "the  Guard  of  the  8  Company es"  on  his 
arrival  December  30,  1686, —  and  there  he  ruled  as  Gover- 
nor of  the  Dominion  of  New  England.  Thither  he  was 
taken  on  April  18,  1689,  after  his  capture  to  meet  the 
leaders  of  the  rebellious  people.  From  its  balcony  "a  long 
declaration"  justifying  the  deposition  of  Andros  was  read. 
The  Old  State  House  was  the  headquarters  of  the  "Council 
for  the  Safety  of  the  People  and  the  Conservation  of  the 


70  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Peace/'  which  assumed  the  reins  of  government  April  20, 
1689.  There  on  May  22  was  held  the  Convention  of 
Delegates  from  the  towns  that  prevailed  on  the  "Old 
Magistrates,"  with  Simon  Bradstreet  as  Governor,  to 
"accept  the  care  and  Government  of  the  people  of  the 
Colony  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Charter  .  .  . 
until  by  direction  from  England  there  be  an  Orderly 
Settlement  of  Government." 

On  May  14,  1692,  Sir  William  Phips  arrived  from 
England  bringing  the  Charter  of  William  and  Mary,  in 
accordance  with  which  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth 
were  merged  in  their  Majesties'  Province  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  Sewall  notes  in  his  diary  "Monday,  May 
16,  eight  Companies  and  two  from  Charlestown  guard 
Sir  William  and  his  Councillors  to  the  Townhouse  where 
the  Commissions  are  read  and  the  Oaths  taken." 

Throughout  the  Provincial  period  the  Governor  and 
Council  appear  to  have  held  their  sessions  in  the  chamber 
at  the  east  end  of  the  Old  State  House.  The  Council 
Chamber  figured  frequently  in  ceremonious  occasions. 
The  newly  arrived  governors  were  inducted  into  office 
there,  and  state  funerals,  receptions  and  festivities  were 
held  there.  It  would  appear  that  at  times  there  was  a 
balcony  or  gallery,  opening  from  the  Council  Chamber, 
that  overlooked  the  head  of  King  Street  where  the  people 
were  wont  to  congregate  at  times  of  public  interest  or 
excitement. 

From  this  balcony  important  events  were  made  known 
to  the  public.  Thus  in  1699,  we  read  that  "Drum  is 
beat  and  Allowance  and  Disallowance  of  the  Acts  is  pub- 
lished." Acts  of  the  Provincial  Legislature  were  subject 
to  approval  of  the  Privy  Council  in  England,  it  should 
be  remembered.     In  May,  1702,  the  accession  of  Queen 


H 

11 


THE    MASSACRE    OF    PATRIOTS    BY    BRITISH    TROOPS,    1770,    DIRECTLY     IN 
FRONT    OF    OLD    STATE    HOUSE. 

The   spot   is   marked   by  paving  stones  arranged    in   a  circle  on   State   Street,  opposite 
Exchange   Street. 


Trials  in  Old  State  House.  71 

Anne  was  proclaimed  here.  In  1709  athe  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment regulating  Coin  is  published  by  Beat  of  Drum  and 
Sound  of  Trumpet."  On  May  16,  1766,  the  news  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  was  announced  from  here. 
The  " Boston  Massacre"  on  March  5,  1770,  was  within 
sight  of  the  east  balcony  of  the  Old  State  House.  Here 
in  May,  1774,  the  last  Royal  Governor,  Thomas  Gage, 
was  proclaimed.  On  July  18,  1776,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  proclaimed  "with  great  parade  and 
exultation  from  the  balcony  at  the  east  end.  .  .  . 
The  ceremony  was  closed  with  a  proper  collation  in  the 
Council  Chamber."  April  23,  1783,  the  Proclamation  of 
Peace  was  announced  here  by  the  Sheriff  of  Suffolk 
County. 

In  1780  John  Hancock  of  Boston,  the  first  Governor 
of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  was  inducted  into  office  in 
the  Old  State  House.  In  1789  President  Washington 
reviewed  the  procession  in  his  honor  from  a  balcony 
erected  in  front  of  the  center  window  of  the  Hall  of 
Representatives  at  the  west  end  of  this  building. 

Mention  should  be  made  of  some  of  the  notable 
judicial  proceedings  which  took  place  within  the  Old  State 
House.  The  last  of  the  courts  for  the  trial  of  persons 
accused  of  witchcraft  in  1692-93  were  held  here,  but  the 
Boston  jury's  verdict  was  always  "  Ignoramus."  In  1699 
Captain  Kidd  was  examined  here  by  Governor  Bellomont 
on  the  charge  of  piracy.  Here  in  1761  James  Otis  made 
his  famous  argument  against  the  Writs  of  Assistance. 
John  Adams,  who  heard  him,  wrote  "  every  man  of  a 
crowded  audience  appeared  to  me  to  go  away,  as  I  did, 
ready  to  take  arms  against  writs  of  assistance.  .  .  . 
Then  and  there  the  child  Independence  was  born." 

In  1769  four  men,  who  had  resisted  a  press  gang  of 


72  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

the  "Rose"  frigate  and  killed  the  officer  in  command  of 
the  gang,  were  tried  here  for  piracy  and  murder.  The 
court  decided  that  it  was  a  case  of  justifiable  homicide. 
In  1770  Captain  Preston,  who  was  in  command  of  the 
soldiers  concerned  in  the  "Boston  Massacre,"  was  tried 
here  and  fully  acquitted,  although  two  of  his  soldiers 
were  found  guilty  of  manslaughter. 

While  the  Council  Chamber  was  the  headquarters  of 
the  Governor  and  Council  during  the  Provincial  period, 
the  House  of  Representatives  had  its  chamber  on  the 
same  floor.  In  the  House  of  Representatives  more  or 
less  constant  opposition  to  the  Governor  and  Council  was 
kept  alive.  In  1765  Sam  Adams  appeared  for  the  first 
time  as  a  Representative  from  Boston.  In  February, 
1768,  the  House  passed  a  bill  ordering  letters  to  be 
written  to  the  other  colonies,  "with  respect  to  the  im- 
portance of  joining  with  them  in  petitioning  His  Majesty 
at  this  time."  This  was  one  of  Adams's  measures.  The 
English  government  demanded  that  it  should  be  rescinded, 
but  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  92  to  17,  refused  obedience. 
In  September,  1768,  news  came  that  the  home  govern- 
ment had  determined,  on  account  of  previous  riots,  to 
send  British  troops  from  Halifax  and  Ireland  to  Boston. 
As  the  Legislature  was  not  expected  to  meet  for  a  year, 
the  Town  Meeting  of  Boston  took  action  and  voted  to 
hold  a  convention  on  September  22,  of  delegates  from  all 
the  other  towns,  "in  order  that  such  measures  may  be 
concerted  and  advised,  as  His  Majesty's  service  and  the 
peace  and  safety  of  his  subjects  in  the  province  may 
require." 

"It  must  be  allowed  by  all,"  says  Hutchinson,  "that 
the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  had  a  greater  tendency 
towards  a  revolution  in  government  than  any  preceding 


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Withdrawal  of  Troops,  1770.  73 

measures  in  any  of  the  colonies.  The  inhabitants  of  one 
town  alone  took  upon  them  to  convene  an  assembly 
from  all  the  towns,  that,  in  everything  but  in  name, 
would  be  a  House  of  Representatives." 

The  fleet  with  the  soldiers  arrived  at  Nantasket, 
September  28.  There  were  a  thousand  men  under 
command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Dalrymple.  One  regi- 
ment pitched  its  tents  on  The  Common,  the  others  found 
shelter  in  Faneuil  Hall  for  the  night.  "  The  next  day 
Governor  Bernard  ordered  the  doors  of  the  Town  House 
to  be  opened,  except  that  of  the  Council  Chamber;  and 
such  part  were  lodged  there  as  Faneuil  Hall  rooms  would 
not  accommodate.  The  Representative  room  was  filled 
in  common  with  the  rest." 

In  May,  1769,  the  Legislature  as  soon  as  it  was  organized 
resolved  that  "An  armament  by  sea  and  land  investing 
the  metropolis  and  the  military  guard  with  cannon  pointed 
at  the  very  door  of  the  State  House,  where  this  Assembly 
is  held,  is  inconsistent  with  that  dignity,  as  well  as  that 
freedom,  with  which  we  have  a  right  to  deliberate, 
consult  and  determine."  They  refused  to  transact 
business  while  the  troops  remained,  and  the  Governor 
adjourned  the  Legislature  to  Cambridge.  Finally,  two 
regiments  were  sent  back  to  Halifax,  the  14th  and  29th 
remaining  here. 

It  was  in  the  Council  Chamber  of  the  Old  State  House 
that  Lieutenant  Governor  Hutchinson  and  the  Council 
were  finally  induced  by  the  determined  stand  of  the 
delegation  from  the  town  meeting,  headed  by  John 
Hancock,  to  advise  the  removal  of  the  regiments  from  the 
town  to  the  castle.  Here  it  was  that  Adams  replied  when 
to  appease  the  people  Colonel  Dalrymple  agreed  to  order 
one  regiment  to  the  castle,  "If  the  Lieutenant  Governor 


74  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

or  Colonel  Dalrymple  or  both  together,  have  authority 
to  remove  one  regiment,  they  have  authority  to  remove 
two,  and  nothing  short  of  the  total  evacuation  of  the 
town  by  all  the  regular  troops  will  satisfy  the  public  mind 
or  preserve  the  peace  of  the  province."  "After  a  little 
awkward  hesitation  it  was  agreed  that  the  town  should 
be  evacuated  and  both  regiments  sent  to  the  castle." 
This,  in  March,  1770,  was  the  first  evacuation  of  Boston 
by  the  British. 

The  founders  of  Massachusetts  were  Englishmen  born 
and  bred  but  they  were  Puritans  who  had  been  engaged 
in  the  incipient  stages  of  the  fateful  struggle  between 
the  crown  and  the  hierarchy  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
Parliamentary  Party  on  the  other.  In  1629  the  outcome 
of  the  contest  as  to  the  objects  for  which  the  Puritans 
were  striving,  i.  e.,  reform  in  church  and  state,  seemed 
desperate.  In  the  self-same  week  Charles  I.  dissolved  the 
Parliament,  that  had  no  successor  till  1640,  and  granted 
the  charter  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony. 

The  Puritan  migration  was  born  of  struggle  and  fore- 
boding, but  the  emigrants  who  were  harried  out  of  England 
by  the  absolutist  king  and  the  subservient  Laud  were 
courageous  and  resourceful  as  well  as  far  sighted.  Their 
dream  of  a  theocratic  state  composed  of  like-minded 
believers  and  based  on  imaginative  interpretation  of 
the  laws  and  institutions  of  the  primitive  Israelites  proved 
illusory.  Their  strenuous  endeavors  to  realize  their 
dream  ended  in  disaster,  for  Charles  II.  revoked  their 
charter  and  compelled  them  to  exercise  a  toleration 
which  they  abhorred  and  to  allow  freedom  of  worship  to 
Anglicans,  Baptists  and  Quakers,  whom  they  disliked 
or  despised. 

But  in  the  realm  of  constructive  politics,  the  founders 


The  Forefathers  Founded  a  Commonwealth.   75 

of  Massachusetts  builded  better  than  they  knew.  In 
that  field  they  achieved  great  and  abiding  results.  They 
transformed  a  trading  company  into  a  Puritan  Common- 
wealth that  endured  for  nearly  half  a  century.  It  finally 
crumbled  under  the  continued  assaults  of  its  enemies  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  after  the  Restoration  of  the 
Stuart  dynasty  resulted  in  the  degradation  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts  Bay  into  a  Crown  Colony.  But 
the  expatriated  Englishmen  who  were  driven  into  the 
New  England  wilderness  succeeded  in  laying  there  the 
foundations  on  which  the  free  State  of  Massachusetts 
was  subsequently  raised.  The  framework  and  constitu- 
tion of  government  under  which  we  live  is  full  of  ghosts 
that  have  never  been  completely  laid  since  first  they 
began  to  walk  in  the  fateful  half-century,  1634-84. 

The  constitutional  history  of  Massachusetts,  in  whose 
development  Boston  and  the  citizens  of  Boston  played 
ever  a  conspicuous  part,  may  be  summarily  divided 
into  periods,  as  follows: 

la.  The  Colonial  Period,  under  the  Charter 
1629-1685.  This  period  was  signalized:  (1)  by  the  sub- 
version of  the  charter  by  the  Magistrates,  1630-1633; 
(2)  by  the  Uprising  of  the  Freemen  in  1634,  when  having 
secured  their  rights  they  instituted  the  representation  of 
the  towns  by  Deputies,  and  entered  upon  a  prolonged 
contest  with  the  oligarchy,  in  which  the  party  of  popular 
rights  finally  triumphed,  having  meanwhile  secured  the 
institution  of  the  secret  ballot,  proxy  voting,  primary 
elections  and  the  referendum,  as  well  as  the  adoption  of 
the  Bodye  of  Liberties,  in  1641,  as  a  part  of  the  organic 
law  to  supplement  the  charter. 

lb.  Inter-Charter  Period,  1686-1692.  This 
period  covered  the  denial  of  the  rights  formerly  enjoyed 


76  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

under  the  charter,  the  suppression  of  representative 
institutions,  the  arbitrary  rule  of  Andros  as  Royal 
Governor  from  1686  till  1689  when  the  colonists  rose 
in  revolt,  deposed  Andros  and  established  a  revolutionary 
government  that  continued  by  permission  of  the  Crown 
till  1692. 

II.  The  Provincial  Period,  1692-1774.  This  was 
signalized,  under  the  Charter  of  William  and  Mary,  by 
constant  bickering  with  the  appointees  of  the  Crown,  and 
after  1765,  when  the  Stamp  Act  was  passed,  by  remon- 
strances verging  on  resistance  to  the  repressive  measures 
of  King  and  Parliament  —  some  of  which  were  directly 
aimed  at  the  Town  of  Boston. 

III.  The  Revolutionary  Period,  1775-1780. 
This  was  marked  by  armed  rebellion,  adhesion  to  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  institution  of  a  revo- 
lutionary government  by  the  Council  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, elected  annually  by  the  people,  1775-1779. 

IV.  The  State  Period,  1780-1916.  During  this 
period  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  which  joined  the 
Federal  Union  in  1788,  has  been  governed  under  the 
forms  and  principles  laid  down  in  the  Constitution  of 
1780,  and  the  amendments  thereto. 

The  formative  stages  of  the  evolution  of  government 
in  Massachusetts  from  its  primitive  beginnings,  1629,  till 
the  adoption  of  the  present  Constitution  in  1780,  are 
indicated  in  more  detail  in  the  Appendix. 

The  circumstances  surrounding  the  Puritan  pioneers 
on  their  arrival  in  what  the  Admiral  of  New  England 
had  prophetically  characterized  as  "the  Paradise  of  these 
parts,"  were  distinctly  favorable  to  innovation  and 
experimentation  in  political  and  economic  as  well  as  in 
ecclesiastical  matters.     Although  their  territory  was  on 


K\NG'S     CHAPEL,    TREMONT    AND     SCHOOL    STREETS. 


Innovations  Introduced  by  the  Forefathers.  77 

the  confines  of  civilization  they  did  not  have  to  fight  the 
Indians  in  order  to  gain  a  foothold.  The  Atlantic  Ocean 
separated  them  from  Whitehall  and  Lambeth,  whose 
occupants,  moreover,  became  increasingly  preoccupied 
with  men  and  measures  in  the  British  Isles.  As  frontiers- 
men they  had  a  virgin  soil  in  which  to  plant,  without 
interference  from  meddlesome  neighbors. 

But  they  were  frontiersmen  of  an  unusual  sort.  It 
was  the  spirit  of  the  men  who  planted  the  Bay  Colony 
(a  spirit  developed  by  self-examination,  by  trial  and  by 
sacrifice)  that  impelled  them  to  depart  from  ways  to 
which  they  had  been  accustomed  rather  than  the  strange 
conditions  in  which  they  were  placed,  that  chiefly  conduced 
to  render  their  experiments  memorable  and  thankworthy. 

Necessity  forced  the  settlers  of  1630  to  become  inventive. 
On  their  arrival,  in  June,  at  Salem,  they  found  it  neces- 
sary to  share  their  provisions  with  Endicott's  people  and 
to  despatch  a  ship  to  England  for  more.  Therefore  it 
became  necessary,  even  before  they  were  forced  "to  change 
counsel  and  plant  dispersedly,"  for  them  to  set  free  the 
indented  servants  who  had  been  sent  out  in  considerable 
numbers  to  provide  laborers  for  the  plantations.  It 
became  a  matter  of  course  for  the  Primary  Towns  to  make 
grants  of  land  to  such  of  "the  inferior  sort"  as  were  "able 
to  plant."  The  adoption  of  this  policy  inured  then  and 
later  to  the  economic  welfare  of  the  colony  —  in  contrast 
with  certain  of  the  proprietary  colonies  which  suffered 
from  the  development  of  a  peasantry  of  poor  whites. 

The  Bay  Company  introduced  not  a  few  rather  startling 
innovations,  when  one  considers  the  antecedents  of  the 
immigrants  who  composed  it.  They  were  enabled  to  make 
history  because  of  their  willingness  to  cut  loose  from  tradi- 
tion.    They  instituted  a  system  of  land  tenure  involving 


78  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

a  radical  departure  from  the  feudalistic  system  of  lease- 
holds and  rentals  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed, 
even  though  some  of  them  had  been  Lords  of  Manors 
before  they  became  emigrants.  The  title  to  land  was 
vested  in  the  Company;  but  in  the  early  grants  and 
allotments,  whether  by  the  General  Court  or  by  the 
Primary  Towns,  comparatively  few  traces  of  land  rents 
are  to  be  found.  Grantees  were  treated  as  shareholders 
at  first,  and  before  long  became  owners  in  fee  simple  of 
their  holdings  and  were  free  to  devise  them  by  will.  So 
landlordism  with  its  train  of  suffering  and  bitterness  that 
have  hardly  been  eradicated  as  yet  in  Great  Britain  was 
avoided  by  the  founders  of  Massachusetts.  It  was  a 
fortunate  thing  for  their  successors  that  free  trade  in  land 
was  so  soon  established.  Democratic  tendencies  had 
freer  and  fuller  scope  in  the  chartered  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  where  there  was  no  peasant  tenantry,  than 
in  the  proprietary  colonies,  e.  g.,  New  Netherland  and 
Maryland,  in  which  the  manorial  system  largely  prevailed. 

Having  established  freedom  of  purchase  and  sale  of 
lands  and  tenements,  the  forefathers  naturally  proceeded 
to  institute  a  simple  system  of  public  records  of  their  own. 
Infant  Boston,  like  its  sister  towns,  devolved  the  duty 
of  recording  land  grants  and  transfers  within  its  borders 
upon  its  own  chosen  officials.  Therein  is  found  the  germ 
of  our  later  system  of  registration  of  deeds  and  wills. 

Town  customs  in  due  time  hardened  into  statute  law. 
Witness  the  remarkable  action  of  the  General  Court,  in 
1639,  when  it  was 

"Ordered  and  decreed:  That  there  bee  records  kept  of 
all  wills,  administrations,  &  inventories,  as  also  of  the 
dayes  of  every  marriage,  birth,  &  death  of  every  pson 
whin  this  iurisdiction. 


Marriage  Solemnized  by  the  Magistrates.      79 

It:  To  record  all  mens  houses  &  lands,  being  certified 
vnder  the  hands  of  the  men  of  every  towne,  deputed  for 
the  ordering  of  their  affaires. 

Item:   To  record  all  the  purchases  of  the  natives." 

The  act  set  forth  a  scale  of  fees  for  entry  of  the  various 
items  by  the  man  "chosen  to  record  things"  and  further 
provided  "such  townes  to  bee  fined  40s  as  shall  faile  to 
send  up  their  certificates." 

Massachusetts  was  the  first  modern  Commonwealth 
to  require  that  a  public  record  should  be  made  of  "every 
marriage,  birth  and  death." 

The  Massachusetts  squirearchy  was  of  a  totally  different 
sort  from  their  Britain  contemporaries.  The  squire,  like 
any  other  landowner,  had  to  hire  his  help  —  for  none  of 
his  townsmen  owed  him  suit  or  service.  Moreover,  the 
squire  could  not  present  a  church  living  to  anyone. 
As  a  member  of  a  church  society  he  could  vote  to  call  a 
minister  or  a  teacher  but  he  had  no  advowsons  at  his 
disposal.  Even  a  settled  minister  had  no  estate  in  his 
office,  and  was  liable  to  dismissal  under  the  prevalent 
congregational  system  of  church  organization  and 
government.  However  exalted  their  social  position, 
parsons  and  squires,  as  such,  in  Massachusetts  were  never 
accorded  special  political  privileges  over  tradesmen, 
farmers  or  shipmasters. 

The  newly  arrived  immigrants  "were  not  willing  to 
bring  in  the  English  custom  of  ministers  performing  the 
solemnity  of  marriage,"  so  on  August  18,  1630,  some 
three  weeks  before  Shawmut  was  named  Boston,   "the 

Governor  married  Captain  Endicott  to  Gibson,"  as 

Winthrop  himself  tells  us.  Governor  Bellingham  rather 
scandalized  his  fellow  Magistrates  in  1641,  when  he 
carried  the  doctrine  of  secular  marriage  so  far  as  to  marry 


80  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

himself!  But  the  feature  of  his  unusual  performance 
which  excited  most  criticism  was  the  fact  that  he  had 
failed  to  comply  with  the  statute  requiring  publication 
in  his  place  of  residence  of  his  intention  of  marriage  a 
fortnight  in  advance  of  the  event. 

The  earliest  as  well  as  the  later  records  of  the  Company, 
of  Boston,  and  the  other  towns  disclose  a  repugnance  to 
the  terminology  of  the  Church  Calendar.  Although  the 
charter  provided  that  the  quarterly  courts  of  the  Com- 
pany should  be  held  on  certain  days  in  the  terms  of 
Hilary,  Easter,  Trinity  and  Michaelmas  forever  —  the 
records  of  all  such  courts  from  1629  onwards  are  set  forth 
in  purely  secular  phraseology  as  to  days  of  the  month 
and  week.  It  was  English  usage  then,  as  now,  to  specify 
the  year  of  the  sovereign's  reign  in  which  an  act,  decree, 
or  what  not  was  passed,  but  regnal  years  are  conspicu- 
ous by  their  absence  from  the  public  records  of  Massa- 
chusetts during  the  colonial  period.  But  the  unchartered 
Separatists  of  New  Plymouth  dutifully  continued  to  use 
regnal  years  till  a  comparatively  late  date,  although  like 
their  more  aggressive  brethren  in  the  Bay  they  banished 
the  use  of  Saints'  Days  from  their  vernacular  and  their 
calendar. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  control  and  management  of 
the  public  schools  was  never  committed  to  the  clergy  as 
such.  The  towns  appear  to  have  taken  the  initiative  in 
the  establishment  of  schools.  Thus,  by  a  vote  of  the 
Town  Meeting  of  Boston,  on  April  13,  1635,  Philemon 
Pormort  "was  intreated  to  become  schoolmaster,  for  the 
teaching  and  nourturing  of  children  with  us."  This  vote 
marks  the  beginning  of  the  Public  Latin  School  whose 
principal  object  since  its  establishment  has  been  fitting 
boys  to  enter  college.     In  its  early  days  it  was  usually 


BOSTON    CITY    HALL,    SCHOOL    STREET. 
Site  of  first   Latin   School   in  America. 


Boston's  Schools  and  School  Committee.       81 

called  the  Free  School.  Its  maintenance  was  met 
partly  by  fees,  partly  by  the  town  rates  and  other  income 
and  partly  from  lands  and  funds  set  apart  for  its  use  by 
the  Town.  Writing  and  reading  schools  for  instruction  in 
elementary  subjects  were  established  later. 

Gradually  the  Town  gave  over  to  the  Selectmen  the 
engagement  of  schoolmasters  and  the  inspection  of  schools. 
They  in  turn  appointed  committees  of  visitation,  com- 
posed of  justices,  clergymen  and  other  notables  to  aid 
them.  Ultimately  in  1789,  when  the  town  adopted  a 
new  "System  of  Public  Education,"  what  has  since  been 
known  as  the  School  Committee  emerged.  The  committee 
then  constituted  consisted  of  twelve  men  in  addition  to 
the  Selectmen.  Practically  the  whole  management  and 
regulation  of  school  affairs  was  intrusted  to  the  School 
Committee,  which  has  always  been  an  elective  body 
chosen  by  the  people.  School  boards,  now  common 
throughout  the  English-speaking  world,  appear  to  have 
originated  in  Boston. 

The  Boston  system  of  1789  provided  for  the  main- 
tenance of:  (1)  a  Latin  Grammar  School  for  boys; 
(2)  three  writing  schools;  and  (3)  three  reading  schools. 
The  south,  center  and  north  parts  of  the  town  had 
each  a  writing  and  a  reading  school,  in  which  instruction 
was  provided  for  children  of  both  sexes  from  seven  to 
fourteen  years  of  age.  Boys  to  enter  the  Latin  School 
had  to  be  ten  years  old  and  might  continue  there  for  four 
years. 

Schools  similar  to  the  Boston  Latin  School  were  estab- 
lished in  Dorchester  and  Roxbury  in  1639.  In  1645  the 
Town  of  Dorchester  adopted  an  elaborate  scheme  for 
the  oversight  and  ordering  of  their  school  by  three 
Wardens  to  be  chosen  by  the  Town  for  life.     How  long 


82  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

the  system  obtained  does  not  appear.  Possibly,  Dor- 
chester should  be  credited  with  the  invention  of  an 
inchoate  School  Committee  one  hundred  and  forty  years 
before  that  of  Boston  took  definite  shape.  However, 
Boston  annexed  Dorchester  in  1870. 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  characteristic  of  the 
beginnings  of  the  free  schools  of  Massachusetts,  aside 
from  their  institution  and  endowment  by  the  towns,  was 
their  democratic  basis  and  their  freedom  from  control  by 
the  clergy. 

In  1647  the  General  Court  passed  an  Act  requiring 
every  township  of  fifty  householders  to  provide  instruc- 
tion in  writing  and  reading  for  all  children;  and  any 
town  with  one  hundred  families  was  required  "to  set 
up  a  grammar  school"  for  the  instruction  of  youth  to 
"be  fitted  for  the  university." 

Certain  innovations,  introduced  quite  casually,  were 
continued  without  the  sanction  of  a  definite  enactment. 
It  may  be  argued  that  it  was  the  policy  of  the  leaders  to 
let  customs  ripen  gradually,  partly  because  that  was  the 
way  in  England  and  partly  from  caution  lest  the 
publication  of  formal  enactments,  involving  departure 
from  existing  law  and  custom,  should  evoke  criticism, 
and  provoke  attack  from  ill-wishers.  But  to  their  chagrin, 
such  a  policy  proved  impracticable  as  regards  the  changes 
wrought  in  the  framework  of  their  government  in  response 
to  the  demands  of  the  people  for  statutory  limitations  of 
the  discretion  of  the  Magistrates  in  the  exercise  of  their 
executive  and  judicial  functions. 

The  United  States  and  the  several  States  of  the  Union 
all  have  written  constitutions,  in  contradistinction  to 
the  so-called  unwritten  constitution  of  England.  It  is 
interesting   to   note    that    the    pronounced    predilection 


Uprising  of  the  Freemen,  1634.  83 

for  a  written  constitution,  now  considered  a  distinctively 
American  trait,  manifested  itself  at  an  early  stage 
in  the  constitutional  development  of  the  Bay  Colony. 
Before  the  Colony  was  five  years  old,  the  term  Com- 
monwealth had  begun  to  supplant  the  term  Company, 
witness  the  votes  of  the  General  Court  in  1634. 

Several  popular  democratic  devices,  besides  the  secret 
ballot,  that  are  highly  lauded  in  our  day,  on  account  of 
their  supposed  modernity,  were  tested  and  found  good 
by  the  Bay  colonists,  e.  g.,  the  referendum  and  primary 
elections.  But  formal  institution  of  "the  recall"  was 
unnecessary,  so  long  as  annually  recurring  elections 
enabled  the  electors  to  "get  at"  their  Magistrates,  who 
were  judges  as  well  as  legislators,  it  should  be  remembered. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  present  Constitution  of 
Massachusetts,  although  it  has  been  revised  by  two  con- 
ventions, still  provides  that  delegates  to  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  "may  be  recalled  at  any  time  within 
the  year,  and  others  chosen  and  commissioned  in  their 
stead."  Of  course,  this  provision  has  been  inoperative 
since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  in  1788.  No  instance  of  this  form  of  recall  in 
Massachusetts  has  come  to  our  notice. 

In  1634  what  may  be  called  the  Uprising  of  the  Free- 
men occurred.  In  effect,  it  was  a  bloodless  revolution 
that  resulted  in  the  introduction  of  a  principle  not  set 
forth  in  the  charter,  but  which,  speaking  broadly,  has 
underlaid  the  government  of  Massachusetts  ever  since. 
That  principle  was  embodied  in  the  establishment  of  a 
body  of  Deputies  to  represent  the  Freemen  of  the  towns 
"in  all  affairs  of  the  Commonwealth,  wherein  the  Freemen 
have  to  do,  the  matter  of  election,  of  Magistrates,  and 
other  officers  only  excepted." 


84  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

In  the  period  1630-33,  the  Magistrates  exceeded  con- 
siderably the  powers  granted  them  by  the  charter.  As  is 
not  infrequently  the  case  with  persons  in  power  who  are 
deeply  sensible  of  their  own  rectitude,  the  Magistrates 
seem  to  have  thought  themselves  indispensable  to  the 
well  ordering  of  the  community;  so  much  so  that  they 
had  kept  their  numbers  small  and,  to  enhance  their  power 
to  do  good,  had  encroached  at  times  upon  the  chartered 
rights  of  the  Freemen. 

The  Magistrates  manifested  oligarchical  propensities  at 
the  very  first  General  Court  of  the  Company  held  in 
Massachusetts,  viz.,  that  of  October  19,  1630.  Although 
the  term  of  office  of  the  Magistrates  expired  on  that  day 
no  election  was  held.  Indeed  no  election  of  Assistants 
took  place  until  May,  1632.  This  first  Court  at  Boston 
was  evidently  "run"  by  the  Magistrates,  who  forebore 
to  admit  any  of  more  than  one  hundred  applicants  for 
the  freemanship;  and  secured  the  assent  of  the  people 
to  the  subversive  proposal  "that  the  Assistants  from 
amongst  themselves  should  choose  a  Governor  and 
Deputy  Governor,  who  with  the  Assistants  should  have 
the  power  of  making  laws  and  choosing  officers  to  execute 
the  same." 

In  1631  the  General  Court  "to  the  end  (that)  the  body 
of  the  commons  may  be  preserved  of  honest  and  good 
men"  limited  the  freemanship  to  "members  of  some  of 
the  churches."  This  limitation  of  the  electorate  occa- 
sioned some  discontent  later  on,  but  remained  practically 
unmodified  for  over  fifty  years. 

In  1632  the  Court  of  Assistants  levied  a  rate  of  £60 
upon  the  towns  to  defray  the  cost  of  building  a  palisade 
"about  the  newe  towne."  This  aroused  popular  appre- 
hension.    At  Watertown,  "the  pastor  and  elder  assembled 


Introduction  of  Secret  Ballot,  1634.  85 


the  people  and  delivered  their  opinion,  that  it  was  not 
safe  to  pay  moneys  after  that  sort  for  fear  of  bringing 
themselves  and  posterity  into  bondage."  The  Magis- 
trates succeeded  in  inducing  the  Watertown  men  to 
confess  themselves  in  error,  but  the  next  General  Court 
conceded  the  appointment  of  two  men  from  every  plan- 
tation uto  conferre  with  the  Court  about  raiseing  of  a 
publique  stocke." 

But  this  and  some  other  concessions  did  not  satisfy  the 
people.  Early  in  April,  1634,  after  the  notices  of  the 
Court  of  Elections,  to  be  held  in  May,  had  been  sent  out, 
each  of  the  eight  principal  towns  deputed  three  men  to 
meet  and  consider  matters  to  be  brought  before  the  Court. 
Having  met  in  Boston,  they  "  desired  a  sight  of  the  patent, 
and,  conceiving  thereby  that  all  their  laws  should  be  made 
at  the  general  court,  repaired  to  the  governor  to  advise 
with  him  about  it."  Winthrop  endeavored  to  convince 
them  that  their  demands  were  unreasonable,  but  they 
remained  unconvinced. 

The  General  Court  held  in  Boston,  May  14,  1634,  is 
memorable  in  the  annals  of  Massachusetts.  It  was 
marked  by  several  innovations,  e.  g.,  the  presence  of  an 
unusual  number  of  Freemen,  the  introduction,  contrary 
to  English  usage,  of  papers,  i.  e.,  written  ballots  in  the 
election  of  officers,  as  well  as  the  institution  of  deputies 
to  represent  the  towns. 

Moreover,  at  this  Court,  Mr.  Cotton  preached  what 
was  probably  the  first  in  a  long  series  of  "  Election  Ser- 
mons." The  annual  sermon  to  the  Legislature  has  long 
since  been  given  up,  but  a  reminder  of  the  ancient  custom 
lingers  in  the  sermon  delivered  before  its  annual  election 
to   the  Ancient  and   Honorable  Artillery   Company   of 


86  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

magistrate  ought  not  to  be  turned  into  the  condition  of  a 
private  man  without  just  cause  ...  no  more  than  the 
magistrates  may  not  turn  a  private  man  out  of  his  free- 
hold without  like  public  trial."  But  the  Freemen  were 
in  no  mood  to  entertain  such  doctrine,  being  bent  on 
drastic  action. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  election,  they  revoked  the 
Oath  of  a  Freeman  which  the  Assistants  had  formulated 
six  weeks  before  and  established  a  new  form.  The  former 
oath  had  practically  exacted  sworn  obedience  to  the 
magistracy.  The  new  oath  required  the  Freemen  "  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  this  commonweale"  to  swear  to  be 
"true  and  faithful  to  the  government,"  and  contained  no 
mention  of  Governor  or  Assistants.  They  then  passed 
resolutions  embodying  their  interpretation  of  the  powers 
of  the  General  Court  under  the  charter,  and  declared  that 
none  but  the  General  Court  had  power  to  choose  and 
admit  Freemen,  or  to  make  and  establish  laws,  or  to  elect 
and  appoint  officers  or  to  raise  moneys  and  taxes  and  to 
dispose  of  lands. 

At  the  election  which  followed,  through  the  use  of  the 
secret  ballot,  they  quietly  left  John  Winthrop  out  of  the 
governorship,  which  he  had  occupied  since  October  20, 
1629,  and  relegated  him  to  the  ranks  of  the  Assistants, 
where  he  was  kept  for  two  years,  till  he  was  chosen  Deputy 
Governor  under  Vane.  In  the  interim  he  did  good  service 
as  one  of  the  allotters  and  men  chosen  for  the  town's 
occasions  in  Boston. 

After  1634  the  Deputies  formed  a  co-ordinate  part  of  the 
government  of  the  Commonwealth  and  shared  abundantly 
in  the  development  of  its  institutions  and  control  of  its 
affairs.  In  1644  the  General  Court  was  divided  into 
two   chambers,    concurrent   action   of   which   was   made 


Electoral  and  Apportionment  Systems.         87 

requisite  for  the  enactment  of  orders.  The  first  election 
of  a  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Deputies  took  place  in  May, 
1644. 

Although  the  charter  provided  that  18  Assistants  should 
be  elected  annually,  after  the  removal  of  the  government 
to  Massachusetts,  their  number  fluctuated  between  7  and 
12  down  to  1679,  when  the  crown  gave  positive  orders 
that  the  full  number  of  Assistants  should  be  chosen  annu- 
ally. Accordingly,  in  1680,  and  thenceforward,  18  Assist- 
ants were  chosen  from  the  candidates  nominated  at  the 
primary  elections.  Possibly  the  small  number  of  Assistants 
prior  to  1679  was  owing  to  the  disinclination  of  the  Depu- 
ties to  an  increase  in  the  number  of  Magistrates. 

The  Freemen  found  the  secret  ballot  a  serviceable 
device.  At  the  Court  of  Elections,  1634,  Winthrop  was 
left  out  of  the  governorship;  Dudley,  his  successor,  was 
similarly  left  out  in  1635,  as  was  Haynes  in  1636,  and 
Henry  Vane  in  1637.  In  1635  Roger  Ludlow,  who  had 
been  Deputy  Governor  the  year  before,  was  left  out  of 
that  office  and  of  the  Assistants  as  well.  Ludlow  and 
Haynes  went  to  Connecticut  where  they  became  pillars 
in  the  State ;  and  Vane  returned,  in  a  pet,  to  England . 
Endicott  was  also  left  out  of  the  Assistants  in  1635, 
and  Coddington  and  Dummer,  of  the  Vane  faction,  were 
similarly  left  out  in  1637. 

Another  innovation  of  the  Colonial  electoral  system  was 
"proxy-voting."  It  was  tried  first  in  1636,  and  estab- 
lished in  1637.  Under  this  system,  the  Freemen's  votes  hi 
the  towns  for  every  Magistrate  were  sealed  up  and  sent 
to  Boston  to  be  canvassed  at  the  Court  of  Elections.  As 
late  as  1680,  and  probably  even  after  the  charter  was 
revoked  in  1684,  the  Freeman  might  give  his  vote  for 
Magistrates  in  person  or  proxy  at  the  Court  of  Elections. 


88  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

So  that  Court  never  wholly  lost  its  character  as  an 
annual  primary  assembly.  It  was  the  actual  votes,  not 
returns  of  the  number  of  votes  cast  by  the  Freemen,  that 
the  Deputies  carried  to  Boston. 

After  1636,  Deputies  were  chosen  by  ballot,  and  in  1643 
it  was  ordered  "That,  for  the  yearly  choosing  of  Assist- 
ants, the  freemen  shall  use  Indian  Corn  and  Beans,  the 
Indian  Corn  to  manifest  Election,  the  Beans  contrary." 
In  1647  the  use  of  "papers  open,  or  once  folded,  not 
twisted  or  rolled  up,"  was  ordained  by  the  General  Court. 

The  apportionment  of  Deputies  under  the  system  estab- 
lished by  the  General  Court  in  1634  was  based  on  the 
number  of  Freemen  in  a  town,  the  town  being  made  the 
electoral  district.  One  Deputy  was  allowed  for  20  Free- 
men; two  for  20-40;  three  for  above  40,  by  an  order  of 
1636.  But  three  years  later,  the  number  of  Deputies  for 
a  town  was  reduced  to  two.  In  1681  Boston,  as  the  result 
of  persistent  claims,  was  given  permission  to  send  three 
Deputies  to  the  General  Court,  and  from  1692,  under  the 
Provincial  Charter,  Boston  was  privileged  to  elect  four 
Deputies. 

The  fifteen  years  following  the  Uprising  of  the  Freemen 
was  a  period  of  controversy  between  the  parties  of  pre- 
rogative and  popular  rights,  represented  respectively  by 
the  Magistrates  and  the  Deputies.  The  exigencies  of  the 
struggle  led  to  an  unusual  number  of  novel  proposals, 
and  to  several  new  devices  and  experiments.  The  Magis- 
trates were  pertinacious  and  ingenious  in  their  attempts 
to  limit  the  number  of  Deputies,  and  to  modify  the  system 
of  elections.  But  the  General  Court  manifested  a  height- 
ened solicitude  to  know  the  mind  of  the  Freemen  on 
matters  of  counsel  and  the  making  of  laws,  especially 
when  changes  affecting  the  fundamental  laws  and  the 


Introduction  of  Primary  Elections,  1640.      89 

apportionment  of  Deputies  were  under  discussion.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  the  following  schemes  proposed  for 
limiting  the  number  of  Deputies  were  referred  to  the  towns, 
viz.,  that  for  every  10  Freemen  in  a  town,  one  should 
vote  for  the  rest  at  the  Court  of  Elections;  that  Deputies 
should  be  elected  by  counties  instead  of  towns;  that  the 
number  of  Deputies  from  a  town  should  be  reduced  from 
two  to  one.  In  all  these  cases,  the  referendum  resulted 
in  the  defeat  of  the  proposal  to  lessen  the  number  of 
Deputies.  So  Massachusetts  may  be  characterized  as  the 
"  Mother  of  the  Referendum."  The  practice  of  resorting 
to  a  referendum,  on  doubtful  questions,  which  grew  up 
in  the  period  1639-47,  became  the  natural  procedure  in 
times  of  doubt  and  turmoil,  e.  g.,  1684,  1689,  1766  and 
the  period  1776-80.  That  the  referendum  has  played 
an  important  and  influential  part  in  the  development 
of  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts  can  hardly  be 
gainsaid. 

A  novel  system  of  primary  elections,  for  the  Nomination 
of  Magistrates,  was  developed  by  a  series  of  tentative 
measures  in  the  period  1639-49.  It  continued  with  slight 
interruption,  e.  g.,  during  the  incumbency  of  Andros, 
and  but  few  alterations  till  the  Province  charter  took 
effect  in  1692.  The  first  action  taken  towards  the  nomi- 
nation of  Magistrates  seems  to  be  that  mentioned  by 
Winthrop  in  his  account  of  the  election  of  1639.  "At 
this  court,"  he  says,  " there  being  want  of  assistants,  the 
governor  and  other  Magistrates  thought  fit  (in  the  warrant 
for  the  court)  to  propound  three  amongst  which  Mr. 
Downing,  the  governor's  brother-in-law  was  one  .  .  . 
Yet  the  people  would  not  choose  him."  For  that  matter, 
the  people  would  not  choose  either  of  the  other  two 
nominees. 


90  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  nomination  of  new  Assist- 
ants by  the  Magistrates  in  1639  provoked  the  next 
General  Court  to  provide  for  the  Nomination  of  Magis- 
trates by  the  Freemen  in  the  towns.  After  some  experi- 
ments, e.  g.,  the  holding  of  a  nominating  convention  at 
Salem,  in  1643,  the  system  was  evolved,  by  1649,  whereby 
the  Freemen  of  every  town  were  ordered  to  be  called 
together  annually  some  day  in  the  last  week  of  November, 
"to  give  in  their  votes  in  distinct  papers  for  such  persons 
as  they  desired  to  have  chosen  Assistants  at  the  next 
Court  of  Elections,  not  exceeding  twenty  in  number."  The 
sealed-up  votes  of  the  Freemen  were  then  to  be  carried 
to  the  shire  towns  on  the  last  Wednesday  of  March  follow- 
ing. Each  shire  meeting  was  charged  to  choose  "one 
Commissioner"  to  carry  the  votes,  on  the  second  Tuesday 
of  April,  to  Boston  "there  to  be  opened  in  the  presence 
of  two  magistrates  if  they  be  in  town."  "The  twenty 
with  the  most  votes  shall  be  the  men,  and  they  only, 
which  shall  be  nominated  at  the  Court  of  Elections." 
This  was  the  system  that  obtained  with  but  slight  changes 
till  the  end  of  the  Colonial  Period. 

To  the  establishment  of  the  Colonial  system  of  direct 
nominations,  the  following  results  may  be  fairly  attrib- 
uted: first,  the  general  system  of  choosing  Magistrates 
at  large  was  so  supplemented  by  the  holding  of  primary 
elections  as  to  make  the  final  choice  by  the  Freemen  at 
the  election  itself  more  deliberate  and  intelligent;  second, 
the  primary  elections  resulted  in  the  nomination  of  a 
relatively  large  number  of  candidates  who  had  attained 
prominence  as  members  of  the  House  of  Deputies,  and  so 
commended  themselves  as  candidates  for  the  magistracy. 
Thereby  the  Freemen  kept  on  hand  a  sort  of  preferred 
list  of  Deputies  and  Ex-deputies  from  which  they  were 


Beginnings  of  the  Caucus,  1635.  91 

accustomed  to  fill  vacancies  caused  by  death,  disfavor,  or 
removal  from  the  Colony.  Thus,  of  55  new  men  elected 
to  the  magistracy  in  the  period  1634-92,  inclusive,  82 
per  cent  had  been  members  of  the  House  of  Deputies. 
So  it  came  about  that  the  electoral  system  of  the  Bay 
Colony  was  remarkably  complete  and  adequate.  It  grew 
rapidly  under  the  stress  of  local  needs  and  party  feeling 
into  an  effective  instrument  for  expressing  the  desires  of 
the  electorate.  The  Freeman,  provided  he  was  a  church 
member,  had  a  vote:  (1)  in  the  choice  of  elders  and  teachers 
in  his  church,  and  in  the  conduct  of  its  affairs;  (2)  in  the 
choice  of  Selectmen  and  other  town  officers,  and  on  all 
prudential  affairs  of  the  town,  and  in  the  choice  of  Deputies 
to  represent  the  town  in  the  General  Court;  (3)  in  the 
nomination  and  election  at  large  of  the  Magistrates,  and 
therefore  of  the  justices  who  presided  over  the  judicial 
courts.  Only  slight  traces  of  primary  elections  to  determine 
candidates  for  town  offices  or  Deputies  can  be  found,  but 
rudimentary  forms  of  the  caucus  may  be  discerned  in 
certain  pre-election  agreements  mentioned  by  Gov. 
Winthrop  as  arousing  criticism  before  the  development 
of  primary  elections  had  begun,  e.  g.,  in  1635,  when  Lud- 
low was  left  out,  and  again  in  1639,  when  some  of  the  elders 
strove  to  prevent  the  election  of  Winthrop  as  Governor. 
But  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  primitive  caucus  was  for 
general  and  not  local  candidates. 

In  1635,  when  Haynes  was  elected  Governor,  Ludlow, 
the  former  Deputy  Governor,  was  altogether  left  out  of  the 
magistracy,  partly,  according  to  Winthrop,  because  he 
"protested  against  the  Election  of  the  governor  as  void, 
for  that  the  deputies  of  the  several  towns  had  agreed  upon 
the  election  before  they  came."  This,  until  an  earlier 
instance  is  brought  to  light,  may  be  taken  as  the  first 


92  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

legislative  caucus  in  Massachusetts.  Perhaps  the  elders 
held  a  caucus  in  1639,  when  they  vainly  strove  to  prevent 
Winthrop's  election  as  Governor.  Two  years  later, 
Bellingham's  election  was  "  labored  for."  We  know  of  no 
instances  of  primary  elections  to  choose  candidates  for 
Deputies  in  the  towns. 

Boston  has  usually  been  credited  with  the  origination  of 
the  caucus.  The  term  is  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of 
"Caulkers"  who  were  wont  to  manifest  much  pre-election 
activity  in  Boston.  It  is  fairly  certain  that  the  caucus 
was  domesticated  in  Boston  early  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, when  the  father  of  Sam  Adams  was  active  in  the 
"  Caulkers'  Club";  and  that  just  before  the  Revolution 
there  were  at  least  three  well-organized  "caucus  clubs"  in 
the  town. 

Boston  did,  in  1669,  institute  local  primary  elections  for 
the  benefit  of  its  two  outlying  districts,  viz.,  Muddy  River 
(Brookline)  and  Rumney  Marsh  (Chelsea),  as  appears 
from  the  following  order  relative  to  their  inhabitants, 
passed  by  the  Boston  Town  Meeting  on  March  10,  1673: 

"Ordered,  That  they  have  liberty  before  the  day  of 
Election  annually  for  the  time  to  come  to  meet  together 
and  make  choice  of  officers  fit  for  their  several  precincts 
and  return  their  names  to  the  public  town  meeting  for 
election,  according  to  an  order  15th  March,  1669." 

The  Freemen  in  1635  exemplified  the  Puritan  venera- 
tion for  the  written  word  by  a  demand  for  written  laws: 

"The  deputies,"  Winthrop  tells  us,  "having  conceived 
great  danger  to  our  state  in  regard  that  our  Magistrates, 
for  want  of  positive  laws,  in  many  cases,  might  proceed 
according  to  their  discretions,  it  was  agreed  that  some  men 


Introduction  of  the  Referendum,  1639.        93 


should  be  appointed  to  frame  a  body  of  grounds  of  laws, 
in  resemblance  to  a  Magna  Charta,  which  being  allowed 
by  some  of  the  ministers  and  the  General  Court  should  be 
received  for  fundamental  laws." 

The  movement  thus  initiated  resulted  in  the  adoption 
and  enactment  in  1641  of  the  "Bodye  of  Liberties." 
During  the  interval  1635-41,  several  committees  were 
appointed  by  the  General  Court  to  expedite  the  matter, 
but  it  is  evident  that  the  Magistrates  and  the  elders  fol- 
lowed a  policy  of  delay  and  avoidance.  Finally,  two 
models  of  heads  of  fundamental  laws  were  drawn  up.  One 
was  prepared  by  Rev.  John  Cotton  of  Boston,  which  was 
characterized  as  "a  copy  of  Moses  His  Judicials,"  the 
other  was  by  Rev.  Nathaniel  Ward  of  Ipswich,  who  had 
been  trained  as  a  lawyer.  In  1639  the  General  Court 
ordered  that  "the  models  concerning  a  form  of  government 
and  laws  to  be  established"  should  be  drawn  up  into  "one 
body"  by  a  committee  charged  "to  take  order  that  the 
same  shall  be  copied  out  and  sent  to  the  several  towns 
that  the  Elders  of  the  churches  and  the  freemen  may 
consider  of  them  against  the  next  General  Court."  This 
reference  of  the  two  models  appears  to  have  been  the  first 
recourse  of  the  General  Court  to  a  constitutional  referen- 
dum. Ward's  model,  not  Cotton's,  was  acepted.  Finally 
it  was  voted  by  the  General  Court  on  December  10,  1641, 
"That  the  body  of  laws  formerly  sent  forth  among  the 
Freemen  should  stand  in  force,"  etc.  The  Bodye  of 
Liberties  was  not  chiefly  a  code  of  statutes;  it  was  in  some 
respects  a  prophetic  type  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  Frame 
of  Government  adopted  as  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  in  1780.  The  Bodye  of  Liberties  was 
one  of  the  results  of  the  Uprising  of  the  Freemen  in  1634. 


94  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

It  was,  in  effect,  a  supplement  to  the  charter  of  1629,  as 
may  be  inferred  from  the  second  paragraph  of  its  preamble, 
which  reads  as  follows : 

"We  hould  it  therefore  our  dutie  and  safetie  whilst  we 
are  about  the  further  establishing  of  this  Government  to 
collect  and  express  all  such  freedomes  as  for  the  present 
we  forsee  may  concerne  us,  and  our  posteritie  after  us. 
And  to  ratifie  them,  with  our  sollemne  consent." 

Among  the  liberties  guaranteed  by  the  Bodye  of  Liber- 
ties to  the  Freemen  was  "full  power  to  choose  annually 
.  .  .  out  of  themselves  a  convenient  number  of  fit  men 
to  order  the  planting  or  prudentiall  occasions  of  that  Town, 
according  to  Instructions  given  them  in  writing."  The 
records  of  Boston  abound  with  references  to  instructions 
both  to  the  Selectmen  and  Deputies.  Thus,  on  March  20, 
1679,  the  Freemen  chose  a  committee  to  "draw  up 
instructions  for  the  Deputies  of  the  General  Court  on 
behalf  of  the  town."  August  29  following,  the  two 
deputies  of  the  General  Court  "made  a  return  of 
what  was  committed  to  them  by  their  instructions  to 
promote  at  the  said  Court  for  the  town."  The  Freemen 
voted  that  the  Deputies  should  at  the  next  session  "again 
move  and  press  the  5th  Article  in  their  instructions  con- 
cerning the  augmentation  of  Deputies  of  this  town."  It 
is  noteworthy  that  the  Freemen  in  the  last  of  the  16 
Articles  of  their  instructions  desired  the  Deputies  "to 
make  a  return  of  what  shall  be  done  in  the  premises  at 
the  end  of  each  session."  The  Freemen  were  particularly 
insistent  in  their  desire  to  "have  deputies  in  the  General 
Court  proportionable  to  our  number  of  freemen."  They 
alleged,  inasmuch  as  every  town  that  had  twenty  Freemen 
might  send  two  Deputies,  and  no  town  more  than  two, 


Instructions  to  Boston  Representatives,  1764.  95 

that  "all  the  Freemen  in  each  town  more  than  twenty 
have  no  vote  in  the  General  Court.  .  .  .  And  shall 
twenty  Freemen  have  equal  privileges  with  our  great 
Town  that  consists  of  near  twenty  times  twenty  Freemen, 
and  bears  their  full  proportion  of  all  public  charges." 

The  General  Court  on  March  16,  1680,  passed  an  order 
allowing  Boston  to  choose  three  Deputies.  So  it  appears 
that  the  Freemen  of  Boston  secured  recognition  of  the 
principle,  at  least  with  regard  to  Boston,  that  represen- 
tation should  be  based  upon  numbers.  This  was  of  far- 
reaching  effect,  for  the  same  principle  was  recognized  by 
the  Provincial  Charter.  Boston,  because  of  its  greater 
numbers,  was  allowed  to  send  four  representatives  to  the 
General  Court.  This  was  in  marked  contrast  to  the 
basis  of  apportionment  which  obtained  then  and  even 
throughout  most  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut.  There,  whatever  the  size  of 
the  towns,  the  number  of  representatives  in  the  General 
Court  was  the  same  for  each  town.  So  Boston  should 
be  credited  with  having  rendered  the  Massachusetts  sys- 
tem of  representation  more  democratic  than  that  of  the 
colonies  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  that  are 
usually  cited  as  examples  of  a  more  liberal  democracy 
than  obtained  in  the  Mother  Colony  of  Massachusetts. 

It  appears  to  have  been  a  well  established  custom,  at 
least  in  Boston,  of  the  Freemen  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
Colonial  period,  and  of  their  successors,  the  Freeholders 
and  Other  Inhabitants,  throughout  the  Provincial  period, 
to  give  written  instructions  to  their  Deputies  and  Repre- 
sentatives. They  were  enabled  thereby  to  exercise 
influence  upon  legislation  through  what  we  may  call  a 
primitive  form  of  initiative. 

In  1728  the  Boston  Town  Meeting  voted  unanimously 


96  Boston  and  Its  Story 

to  instruct  their  Representatives  "not  to  fix  a  salary  for 
the  Governor."  In  retaliation  for  such  disrespect  toward 
the  king,  Burnet  caused  the  sessions  of  the  General 
Court  to  be  held  at  Salem  and  Cambridge  instead  of 
Boston  for  a  time.  In  1729,  after  Burnet's  death,  they 
were  resumed  in  Boston. 

The  period  1764-80,  i.  e.,  from  the  initiation  of  Gren- 
ville's  measures  for  taxing  the  colonies  until  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  affords  numer- 
ous instances  in  which  Massachusetts  towns  exemplified 
the  principles  of  the  initiative.  In  this  period  instruc- 
tions by  the  towns,  particularly  the  Town  of  Boston, 
played  a  large  part  in  the  controversy  with  the  Royal 
Governors,  the  king  and  Parliament,  and  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  American  doctrine  of  popular  rights. 
Indeed  a  fair  sized  treatise  on  the  Nature  of  Government 
and  the  Rights  of  the  Subject  might  be  compiled  from  the 
instructions  to  their  representatives  by  the  Town  of 
Boston. 

The  instructions  to  the  Boston  Representatives,  in  1764, 
as  in  several  later  years,  were  the  handiwork  of  Samuel 
Adams  —  the  ablest  and  most  farseeing  American  poli- 
tician of  his  day.  These  instructions  of  1764  are  remark- 
able in  both  their  tone  and  content  —  they  strike  the 
keynote  of  the  prolonged  debate  between  Massachusetts 
and  the  British  Government.  In  the  exercise  of  their 
"Constitutional  Right  of  expressing  their  mind  and 
giving  such  Instruction  ...  as  they  shall  Judge 
proper,"  the  constituents  of  the  Boston  Representatives 
urged  them  to  use  their  "utmost  endeavors  to  promote 
Public  frugality  as  one  means  to  lessen  the  Publick  Debt" 
incurred  on  account  of  the  late  war.  There  is  apprehen- 
sion of  "new  taxations"  by  Parliament. 


SAMUEL    ADAMS,    THE     GREAT     PATRIOT. 


Instructions  to  Boston  Representatives,  1766.  97 

"If  taxes  are  laid  upon  us  in  any  shape  without  ever 
having  a  Legal  Representative  where  they  are  laid  are  we 
not  reduced  from  the  Character  of  Free  Subjects  to 
the  Miserable  State  of  tributary  Slaves.  We  therefore 
earnestly  recommend  it  to  you  to  use  your  utmost 
endeavors,  to  obtain  in  the  General  Assembly  all  necessary 
Instructions  and  advice  to  our  Agent,  .  .  .  that  he 
may  be  able  to  remonstrate  for  us  all  those  Rights  and 
Privileges  which  Justly  belong  to  us  either  by  Charter  or 
Birth.  As  his  Majesty's  other  Northern  American  Colonys 
are  embark'd  with  us  in  this  most  important  Bottom,  we 
further  desire  you  to  use  your  Endeavors  that  their 
weight  may  be  added  To  that  of  this  Province;  that  by 
the  united  Applications  of  all  who  are  Aggrieved,  All 
may  happily  obtain  Redress." 

On  September  18,  1765,  Instructions  for  the  Represen- 
tatives of  the  Town  after  expressing  "the  greatest  Dis- 
satisfaction" with  the  Stamp  Act  add:  "And  we  think 
it  incumbent  upon  you  by  no  Means  to  Join  in  any 
publick  Measures  for  Countenancing  and  assisting  in  the 
Execution  of  the  same:  But  to  use  your  best  endeavors 
in  the  General  Assembly,  to  have  the  Inherent  unalienable 
Rights  of  the  People  of  this  Province  asserted  and  vindi- 
cated."   The  instructions  were  passed  unanimously. 

In  1766  Bostonians  were  greatly  rejoiced  over  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  the  Town  Meeting  voted 
that  "every  Inhabitant  be  desired  to  Illuminate  his 
Dwelling  House,"  and  appointed  a  committee  to  report 
"what  they  think  may  be  further  necessary  for  the  Town 
to  do,  in  order  to  testify  their  Gratitude,"  etc.  The 
Representatives  were  instructed  "to  bring  forward  and 
promote  such  an  order  as  shall  make  the  debates  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  as  public  as  those  in  the  House 
of  Commons  in  Great  Britain,  that  you  may  be  very 
watchful  over  our  Just  rights,   liberties  and  privileges. 


98  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

And  give  us  notice  whenever  you  apprehend  them  in 
danger;  and  for  the  total  abolishing  of  Slavery  from 
among  us ;  that  you  move  for  a  law  to  prohibit  the  impor- 
tation and  purchasing  of  slaves  for  the  future.  In  the 
next  place  with  respect  to  North  America  in  general  it 
is  our  advice  and  instruction,  that  you  keep  up  a  con- 
stant and  friendly  intercourse  with  the  other  English 
Governments  on  the  Continent." 

One  may  find  in  this  last  injunction  a  forecast  of  the 
Circular  letter  of  1768  and  the  statements  issued  by  Com- 
mittees of  Correspondence  in  1772  and  later. 

In  1772  Governor  Hutchinson's  refusal  to  comply 
with  a  petition  of  Boston  to  allow  the  General  Assembly 
to  meet  impelled  the  Town  on  November  2  to  vote 
unanimously,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Samuel  Adams: 

"That  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  be  appointed  to 
state  the  Rights  of  the  Colonists  and  of  this  Province  in 
Particular  as  Men,  as  Christians,  and  as  Subjects;  to 
communicate  and  publish  the  same  to  the  several  Towns 
in  this  Province  and  to  the  World  as  the  sense  of  this 
Town,  with  the  Infringements  and  Violations  thereof  that 
have  been  made.  Also  requesting  of  each  Town  a  free 
communication  of  their  Sentiments  on  this  Subject." 

The  committee's  report,  a  lengthy  one,  was  duly  con- 
sidered by  the  Town,  and  unanimously  adopted,  on 
November  20,  1772,  and  was  published  in  pamphlet  form. 
In  its  Statement  of  Rights  and  List  of  Infringements  and 
Violations  of  those  rights,  this  declaration  both  in  its 
subject  matter  and  phraseology  reads  much  like  a  forecast 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  1776.  So  much  so 
that  a  correspondent  of  John  Adams  assured  him  that 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  contained  nothing  new. 


Statement  of  Rights,  by  Boston,  1772.         99 

The  Statement  of  Rights  by  Sam  Adams  begins  as 
follows : 

"  Among  the  natural  Rights  of  the  Colonists  are  these, 
first,  a  Right  to  Life;  secondly,  to  Liberty;  thirdly,  to 
Property;  together  with  the  Right  to  support  and  defend 
them  in  the  best  manner  they  can.  Those  are  evident 
branches  of,  rather  than  deductions  from  the  Duty  of 
Self  Preservation,  commonly  called  the  first  Law  of 
Nature.  .  .  .  When  Men  enter  Society  it  is  by  voluntary 
consent;  and  they  have  a  right  to  demand  and  insist 
upon  the  performance  of  such  conditions  and  limitations 
as  form  an  equitable  original  compact." 

The  List  of  Infringements  numbers  twelve  in  all.  One 
will  suffice  here.  "1st.  The  British  Parliament '  have 
assumed  the  power  of  legislating  for  the  Colonists  in  all 
cases  whatsoever,  without  obtaining  the  consent  of  the 
Inhabitants,  which  is  ever  essentially  necessary  to  the 
right  establishment  of  such  a  legislative." 

While  suffering  from  the  effects  of  the  Boston  Port 
Bill,  the  people  of  Boston  were  greatly  stirred  by  the 
news  that  Parliament  had  passed  still  other  "intolerable 
Acts."  At  a  Town  Meeting,  held  on  July  26,  1774,  Boston 
"accepted  Paragraph  by  Paragraph"  a  Letter  to  the 
other  Towns  relative  to  "Two  Acts  of  Parliament,  altering 
the  Course  of  Justice  and  annihilating  our  free  Constitu- 
tion of  Government."  The  second  of  the  acts  alluded  to 
provided  that  no  Town  meeting,  except  for  an  election, 
should  be  held  in  the  Province,  without  the  written  per- 
mission of  the  Royal  Governor, —  who  was  also  given 
power  to  prescribe  what  matters  should  be  considered  in 
such  meetings. 

On  September  1,  1774,  General  Gage,  the  last  Royal 


100  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Governor,  issued  writs  for  an  election  of  Representatives 
to  the  General  Court  to  be  convened  on  October  5  at 
Salem.  On  September  25,  an  election  was  held  for  four 
Representatives  from  Boston.  At  the  same  meeting  three 
persons  were  appointed  and  impowered  by  the  Town, — 
"in  addition  to  our  four  Representatives  to  join  with  the 
Members  who  may  be  sent  from  the  Neighboring  Towns 
in  the  Province,  at  a  Time  to  be  agreed  on,  in  a  General 
Provincial  Congress." 

The  Representatives  from  Boston  were  instructed 

"To  adhere  firmly  to  the  Charter  .  .  .  and  to  do  no 
Act  which  can  possibly  be  construed  into  an  Acknowledg- 
ment of  the  Act  of  the  British  Parliament,  for  altering  the 
Government  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  .  .  And  as  we  have 
Reason  to  believe  that  a  Conscientious  Discharge  of  your 
Duty  will  produce  your  Dissolution,  as  an  House  of 
Representatives,  We  do  hereby  impower  and  instruct  you 
to  join  with  the  Members,  who  may  be  sent  from  this  and 
the  Neighboring  Towns  in  the  Province,  and  to  meet  with 
them  on  a  time  to  be  agreed  on,  in  a  General  Provincial 
Congress,  to  act  upon  such  Matters  as  may  come  before 
you,  in  such  a  manner,  as  shall  appear  to  you  most  con- 
ducive to  the  true  Interest  of  this  Town  and  Province, 
and  most  likely  to  preserve  the  Liberties  of  all  America." 

De  Tocqueville  may  well  have  had  the  Town  of  Boston 
in  mind  when  he  wrote : 

"The  American  Revolution  broke  out,  and  the  doctrine 
of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  came  out  of  the  town- 
ships and  took  possession  of  the  State.  Every  class  was 
enlisted  in  its  cause;  battles  were  fought  and  victories 
obtained  for  it;  it  became  the  law  of  laws." 

As  soon  as  the  meaning  of  the  Regulating  Act  of  1774 
became  clear,  which  forbade  the  holding  of  Town  meetings 
without   the  written   permission   of  the   Governor,   the 


PRINTING     OFFICE    OF   JAMES     FRANKLIN,    WHERE    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN 
LEARNED    THE    PRINTING    TRADE. 

In  the  upper  story  was  located  the  Longroom  Club,  over  which  Samuel  Adams 
presided,  and  where  the  meetings  of  the  Patriots  were  held  which  led  to  the  Revolu- 
tion and  Independence  of  the  Nation.       Corner  Court  Street  and  Franklin  Avenue. 


Boston  Wishes  Constitutional  Convention,  1777.    101 

question  of  establishing  a  new  form  of  government  began 
to  be  agitated.  Thus,  one  of  Sam  Adams's  correspondents, 
in  a  letter  dated  July  29,  1774,  declared  "It  would  be  best 
to  form  a  New  Charter  for  ourselves,"  and  on  September 
12,  Dr.  Joseph  Warren  wrote  to  Adams,  "Many  among 
us  and  almost  all  in  the  Western  Countys  are  for  taking 
up  the  old  Form  of  Government  according  to  the  first 
Charter." 

At  a  Town  Meeting  in  Boston,  held  on  May  23,  1776, 
to  consider  a  referendum  issued  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, it  was  voted  unanimously: 

"That  if  the  Honble.  Continental  Congress  should  for 
the  safety  of  the  Colonies,  declare  them  Independent  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain,  they  the  Inhabitants,  will 
solemnly  engage  with  their  Lives  and  Fortunes  to  support 
them  in  the  Measure." 

By  this  vote  Boston  instructed  its  Representatives  to 
vote  to  authorize  the  Massachusetts  Delegates  in  Con- 
gress to  vote  for  Independence. 

Early  in  May,  1777,  the  House  of  Representatives 
recommended  the  towns  to  instruct  their  Representatives 
to  act  with  the  Council  in  forming  a  Constitution  of 
Government.  On  May  26  the  Town  adopted  instructions 
in  which  their  Representatives  were  "directed  by  a 
unanimous  vote  in  a  full  meeting,  on  no  Terms  to  consent" 
to  the  General  Court's  forming  a  new  Constitution. 
The  instructions  intimate  that  "This  matter  at  a  suitable 
time  will  properly  come  before  the  people  at  large  to 
delegate  a  Select  Number  for  that  purpose,  and  that  alone." 

The  Assembly  and  the  Council  resolved  on  June  17  to 
act  as  a  Convention,  and  their  plan  of  a  Form  of  Govern- 
ment was  finally  ordered  printed  on  December  11,  and 


102  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

in  May  following,  the  Constitution  of  1778,  so  called, 
was  submitted  to  the  voters  of  the  State.  The  Boston 
Town  Meeting  voted  unanimously  on  May  25  (968  votes 
being  cast)  against  ratification  of  the  Constitution,  chiefly 
because  it  had  not  been  framed  by  a  convention  chosen 
especially  for  the  purpose  by  the  people,  and  furthermore, 
because  it  was  not  prefaced  by  a  bill  of  rights. 

The  instructions  by  the  Town  of  Boston,  adopted  May 
26,  1777,  embodied  what  was,  perhaps,  the  first  intimation 
of  a  desire  for  a  special  convention  elected  by  the  people 
to  frame  a  constitution  to  be  submittted  to  the  people  for 
their  acceptance  or  rejection.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is 
indisputable  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts  in  the  spring 
of  1779,  in  response  to  a  referendum  emanating  from  the 
House  of  Representatives,  emphatically  declared  their 
desire  for:  (1)  "a  New  Constitution";  and  (2)  "the  call- 
ing of  a  State  Convention  for  the  sole  purpose  of  forming 
a  new  Constitution." 

Accordingly  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1779, 
the  first  of  its  kind  anywhere,  was  called.  In  it  Boston 
was  represented  by  twelve  delegates.  James  Bowdoin  of 
Boston  was  President  of  the  Convention.  Although  the 
Convention  met  first  at  Cambridge  on  September  1,  1779, 
most  of  its  sessions  were  held  at  the  Old  State  House  in 
Boston,  where  the  first  General  Court  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  was  organized  on  October  25,  1780. 

In  accordance  with  a  Resolve  passed  March  2,  1780, 
the  Constitution  was  submitted  to  the  people.  It  was 
duly  ratified;  but  no  official  statement  either  in  print  or 
manuscript  can  be  found  as  to  the  whole  number  of  votes 
for  and  against  ratification.  It  seems  probable  from  the 
incomplete  manuscript  returns  extant,  that  at  least 
13,000  votes,  12,000  yeas  and  1,000  nays,  were  cast  on 


Adoption  of  Constitution,  1780.  103 

the  acceptance  of  Article  I.,  Part  I.  of  the  Bill  of  Rights. 
Like  the  Convention  that  framed  it  the  Constitution  of 
1780  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in  America,  in  that  it  was 
adopted  by  vote  of  the  people.  All  of  the  earlier  State 
Constitutions  were  framed  and  adopted  -by  legislative 
assemblies  without  an  express  mandate  from  the  people. 

The  Boston  Town  Meeting  having  considered  the  pro- 
posed Constitution,  paragraph  by  paragraph,  on  May  3 
and  May  4,  1780,  on  May  8  voted  to  accept  the  Constitu- 
tion as  a  whole  ("  except  the  3d  Article  of  the  Bill  of 
Rights  and  the  2d  Article  of  the  1st  Chapter  relative  to 
the  mode  of  Electing  Senators")  by  a  vote  of  886  yeas 
to  1  nay.  Two  days  were  then  devoted  to  the  Third 
Article  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  which  being  amended  was 
finally  accepted  by  a  vote  of  420  yeas  to  140  nays.  The 
article  in  question  authorized  and  empowered  the  Legis- 
lature: (1)  to  require  the  Towns  to  maintain  at  their 
own  expense  public  worship  and  public  Protestant 
teachers  of  piety,  religion  and  morality;  and  (2)  to  enjoin 
attendance  of  all  subjects  upon  the  instructions  of  such 
teachers. 

In  1833  this  Article  was  rescinded,  in  accordance  with 
a  constitutional  referendum  —  although  a  similar  refer- 
endum in  1821  had  resulted  in  a  majority  against  rescission 
of  the  Article.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Boston  in  1833 
as  in  1821  and  1780  voted  strongly  against  Article  III. 
of  the  Bill  of  Rights. 

On  September  4,  1780,  the  first  State  election  under 
the  new  Constitution  was  held.  There  were  12,281  votes 
cast  for  Governor,  600  in  Maine,  11,681  in  Massachusetts. 
Maine  remained  a  part  of  Massachusetts  till  1820.  John 
Hancock,  like  Sam  Adams,  a  product  of  the  Boston  Town 
Meeting,  was  elected  Governor,  receiving  11,207  votes,  or 


104  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

91.25  per  cent  of  the  total  vote  for  Governor.  James 
Bowdoin,  his  principal  competitor,  received  1,033  votes. 
When  we  remember  that  at  the  election  of  1780  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  were  free  for  the  first  time  since 
1692  to  elect  their  Governor,  the  total  vote  for  Governor 
seems  a  light  one;  particularly  as  has  been  mentioned 
already  the  vote  on  the  acceptance  of  the  Constitution 
of  1780  appears  to  have  exceeded  13,000.  Another 
notable  feature  of  the  vote  for  Governor  in  1780  was  the 
failure  of  71  towns,  i.  e.,  24  per  cent  of  297  towns,  to  make 
return  of  any  vote  for  Governor.  Some  76  towns,  of 
which  42  were  in  Massachusetts,  appear  not  to  have 
made  return  of  any  vote  regarding  the  Constitution  of 
1780. 

The  Sons  of  the  Revolution  may  well  note  that  the 
voting  habits  of  their  fathers  were  rather  peculiar. 

The  people  of  Massachusetts,  having  secured  a  con- 
stitution to  their  liking,  were  content  to  leave  it  unchanged 
for  forty  years.  Since  1820,  one  article  in  the  Bill  of 
Rights  and  31  articles  in  the  Frame  of  Government 
have  been  altered  through  the  ratification  of  44  amend- 
ments of  the  Constitution.  In  altering  the  Consti- 
tution, the  people  have  acted  with  much  deliberation 
and  have  shown  their  dislike  of  wholesale  or  headlong 
changes. 

Only  two  conventions  to  revise  the  Constitution  have 
been  held.  The  first,  held  in  1821,  proposed  fourteen 
distinct  amendments,  of  which  only  nine  were  ratified, 
although  several  of  the  rejected  amendments  were 
adopted  in  later  years.  The  second  Constitutional 
Convention,  that  of  1853,  submitted  eight  "propositions" 
to  be  answered  by  "Yes"  or  "No."  That  numbered 
"One"  was  a  blanket  referendum,  covering  what  was  in 
effect  a  revised    constitution,  embodying   many   radical 


Constitution  of  1780.  105 

changes;  the  other  seven  were  categorical  propositions. 
However,  all  eight  were  rejected.  On  the  pending 
question  of  holding  a  third  Constitutional  Convention, 
the  public  has  shown  but  slight  interest  as  yet. 

As  a  whole,  the  Constitution  has  undergone  no  very 
radical  or  essential  change  either  in  its  essence  or  struc- 
ture in  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  years,  although  it 
has  been  considerably  democratized  in  certain  features. 
For  instance,  religious  and  property  tests  have  been 
abolished,  manhood  suffrage  established,  and  the  sphere 
of  the  electorate  much  enlarged.  Moreover,  support 
of  Protestant  ministers  by  the  towns  and  required 
attendance  upon  the  instructions  of  the  clergy  has  not 
obtained  for  eighty-three  years. 

Originally,  the  apportionment  of  Senators  was  based 
upon  the  proportionate  amount  of  taxes  paid  in  the  sena- 
torial districts  and  apportionment  of  Representatives 
was  based  upon  ratable  polls.  A  more  democratic  basis 
was  introduced  in  1840.  Since  1857,  the  basis  of  appor- 
tionment of  both  Senators  and  Representatives  has 
been  the  number  of  legal  voters  found  by  a  decennial 
census  of  the  state.  Originally,  a  candidate  was  debarred 
from  certain  offices  unless  he  had  a  certain  amount  of 
property,  and  property  tests  hedged  in  the  right  to  vote 
for  State  officers.  But  that  has  all  been  changed  by 
constitutional  amendments,  ratified  by  the  people.  In 
1891  the  payment  of  a  poll  tax  ceased  to  be  a  prerequisite 
to  registration  as  a  voter.  Down  to  1855,  a  majority  of 
votes  cast  was  required  in  the  election  of  civil  officers. 
Since  then,  a  plurality  has  sufficed.  Again,  in  1855,  the 
election  of  Councilors,  Secretary,  Treasurer,  Auditor  and 
Attorney-General  was  taken  from  the  Legislature  and 
given  over  to  the  people. 

Of  70  questions  referred  to  the  voters  of  Massachusetts 


106  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

in  the  interval  1780-1915,  inclusive,  62  related  to  changes 
in  the  Constitution.  Forty-four  proposed  amendments 
were  ratified  and  18  were  rejected.  In  18  instances, 
Boston's  vote  on  a  referendum  was  opposed  to  the  major 
vote  of  the  state  outside  of  Boston.  In  10  cases  the 
vote  of  Boston  turned  the  scale.  Thus,  in  1821,  Boston's 
majority  of  994  for  empowering  the  Legislature  to  grant 
city  charters,  countervailed  a  majority  of  932  in  the  rest 
of  the  state  against  so  doing.  Again,  in  the  same  year, 
it  was  proposed  to  require  no  other  oath  than  that  of 
allegiance  from  any  civil  or  military  officer.  The  amend- 
ment was  ratified  because  Boston  gave  it  an  affirmative 
majority  of  2,245  against  an  adverse  majority  of  943 
outside  of  Boston.  In  1853,  when  eight  questions  were 
referred  to  the  voters  by  the  Constitutional  Convention, 
Boston  voted  contrary  to  the  rest  of  the  state  on  seven 
of  them,  and  thereby  prevented  their  ratification.  On 
the  eighth  question,  which  was  likewise  negatived,  Boston 
and  the  state  outside  of  Boston,  both  cast  a  majority  in 
the  negative.  The  majority  in  Boston  against  radical 
changes  in  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  the  Frame  of  Govern- 
ment was  5,785,  against  an  affirmative  majority  elsewhere 
of  857,  while  on  forbidding  the  support  of  sectarian 
schools  from  public  moneys,  Boston  gave  an  adverse 
majority  of  4,672  against  a  majority  favoring  the  pro- 
posal of  4,271  in  the  rest  of  the  state. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  eight  referenda  in  1853  evoked 
unusual  popular  interest,  so  much  so  that  the  total  votes 
on  the  questions  submitted  ranged  from  100.8  to  101.8 
per  cent  of  the  total  vote  for  Governor. 

Massachusetts  men  were  not  so  prominent  and  influ- 
ential in  transforming  the  Confederated  Colonies  into  the 
United  States  of  America,  i.e.,  1787-88,  as  they  had  been 


Constitutional  Convention,  1788.  107 

in  the  Continental  Congress,  1774-76.  Yet  the  Town 
of  Boston,  voicing  the  mercantile  interests  of  the  place, 
showed  their  concern  over  the  weakness  of  the  central 
government  of  the  Confederacy  in  1785,  when  British 
goods  were  being  dumped  upon  the  Boston  market 
and  the  Congress  was  powerless  to  retaliate  upon  the 
contemptuous  and  selfish  policy  of  Great  Britain.  The 
Town  Meeting  instructed  its  Representatives  in  the 
General  Court  to  exert  their  utmost  influence  with  that 
body  to  request  the  Governor  "to  open  a  correspondence 
with  the  Supreme  Executive  of  the  Other  States  to  concert 
the  means  of  National  Unanimity  and  Exertion."  The 
primary  purpose  of  the  Annapolis  Convention  of  1786  was 
to  "decide  upon  a  uniform  system  of  regulations  for 
commerce."  Only  5  states  were  represented,  so  it 
adjourned,  having  issued  a  call  for  a  convention  to  meet  at 
Philadelphia  in  May,  1787;  then,  in  the  course  of  4  months, 
the  proposed  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
framed.  On  submission  to  the  people  of  the  several 
states,  Massachusetts,  by  its  Convention,  was  the  sixth 
of  the  9  necessary  states  to  ratify  the  instrument,  by 
a  narrow  majority  of  19  in  a  total  vote  of  345  on 
February  6,  1788. 

The  major  part  of  the  Massachusetts  Convention  that 
ratified  the  United  States  Constitution  in  1788  was 
unfavorably  disposed  to  the  instrument  when  it  met. 
So  were  Sam  Adams  and  John  Hancock,  who  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Convention.  Elbridge  Gerry,  a  delegate 
from  Massachusetts,  had  refused  to  sign  it  when  the 
Continental  Congress  adopted  it  for  submission  to  the 
13  states. 

By  adroit  management,  the  Federalist  leaders  secured 
the  support  of  Adams  and  Hancock.     Theophilus  Parsons, 


108  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

of  Boston,  seems  to  have  been  the  master  mind  in  winning 
their  support  by  argument  and  finesse.  Indeed  it  is 
fairly  certain  that  Parsons  wrote  the  speech  in  which 
Hancock  theatrically  announced  his  adhesion;  and  that 
certain  amendments  proposed  by  the  Massachusetts 
Convention,  and  subsequently  adopted  by  the  other  states 
of  the  Union,  were  drafted  by  Parsons,  so  as  to  allay  Sam 
Adams's  objections  to  the  instrument,  as  originally 
submitted.  Adams  was  also  influenced  by  the  demon- 
stration (organized  by  Paul  Revere)  of  the  Boston 
mechanics  at  the  Green  Dragon  Tavern  in  favor  of  the 
Constitution. 

Opposition  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  was  most 
vigorous  and  menacing  in  Massachusetts  and  Virginia. 
The  favorable  action  of  the  Massachusetts  Convention 
in  February  doubtless  contributed  to  like  action  by  the 
Virginia  Convention  in  June,  1788.  Of  the  10  amend- 
ments proposed  at  the  first  session  of  the  first  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  September,  1789  (and  duly  ratified 
by  December  15,  1791),  three  of  the  most  important  were 
originally  drafted  by  Theophilus  Parsons  of  Boston,  in 
deference  to  the  views  of  Adams  and  Hancock,  the  most 
notable  and  influential  spokesmen  of  the  Town  Meeting 
of  Boston  in  their  day  and  generation. 

Boston  got  busy  before  it  got  big.  Being  the  principal 
port  of  New  England,  it  has  always  been  a  bustling  place 
of  trade  in  its  day  and  generation.  Infant  Boston  began 
as  a  frontier  town,  with  its  face  towards  the  Atlantic 
and  its  back  towards  an  unexplored  continent.  Boston, 
even  during  its  formative,  agrarian  stage,  before  the 
colonists  began  to  seek  alluvial  plains  to  the  westward, 
was  an  active  maritime  town  and  the  seat  of  a  growing 
overseas  and  coastwise  commerce. 


Boston  as  a  Poet.  109 

Throughout  its  history,  Boston  has  been  the  entrepot 
of  New  England.  While  the  Puritan  exodus  from  Eng- 
land lasted,  and  it  did  not  cease  till  1640,  Boston's  com- 
merce was  mostly  with  the  mother  country,  whence 
came  immigrants,  cattle  and  supplies  in  large  numbers 
and  quantities.  In  1634,  when  the  Bay  Colony  had  per- 
haps 4,000  English  inhabitants  in  some  twenty  villages 
on  or  near  the  coast,  Winthrop  notes  the  arrival  in  June 
of  "fourteen  great  ships  at  Boston  and  one  at  Salem." 
The  importation  of  settlers  reached  its  flood  in  1638 
or  thereabouts,  when  Winthrop  says  "there  came  over 
this  Summer  twenty  ships  and  at  least  three  thousand 
persons." 

It  has  been  estimated  that  in  the  period  1630-40.  the 
arrivals  in  the  colony  in  298  ships  numbered  21,200  pas- 
sengers, in  about  4,000  families;  and  the  cost  to  the  immi- 
grants for  transportation,  cattle,  supplies,  etc.,  has  been 
set  at  £192,000.  So  large  an  influx  of  home  seekers 
stimulated  both  trade  and  agriculture. 

Many  of  the  leaders  of  the  migration  belonged  to  the 
landed  gentry,  but,  in  the  process  of  becoming  pioneer 
immigrants,  it  would  appear  that  their  views  and  prac- 
tices underwent  somewhat  of  a  sea-change.  They  came 
away  protesting  their  loyalty  to  the  Anglican  Church, 
but  very  shortly  became  Separatists,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  and  embraced  the  views,  as  regards  church 
government,  exemplified  by  their  neighbors  at  New 
Plymouth.  No  aristocratic  scruples  prevented  them 
from  engaging  in  trade  and  industry  when  occasion  served. 
Although  they  were  ardent  seekers  after  the  Bread  of 
Life,  they  were  not  neglectful  of  means  to  secure  their 
daily  bread  —  in  good  measure. 

Of  the   Magistrates  who   came  out  in   1630,   several 


110  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

became  active  men  of  affairs.  Thus,  Governor  Winthrop 
built  the  first  Massachusetts  sea-going  vessel,  "The 
Blessing  of  the  Bay."  It  was  launched  July  4,  1631, 
on  the  Mystic  River,  where  he  had  a  farm  called  "Ten 
Hills."  This  craft,  a  bark  of  perhaps  60  tons,  was  used 
in  coastwise  and  West  India  trade.  Coddington,  Pyn- 
chon,  Endicott  and  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  became  active 
traders  and  promoters  of  industrial  progress.  Governor 
Winthrop's  sons,  particularly  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  who 
was  an  Assistant  1632-49,  and  later  Governor  of 
Connecticut,  were  active  in  commercial  ventures  and 
attempts  to  establish  iron  and  salt  works. 

The  first  ship  built  in  Boston  was  the  "Trial,"  of 
about  200  tons.  She  was  built  for  Boston  merchants 
in  1642.  When  ready  to  sail  on  her  maiden  voyage  to 
Fayal,  with  pipe  staves  and  fish,  Mr.  Cotton  "was 
desired  to  preach  aboard  her,"  but  delivered  his  sermon 
in  the  meeting  house  because  "the  audience  would  be 
too  great  for  the  ship."  In  1643  the  Trial  was  sent 
to  Bilbao,  in  Spain,  with  fish,  which  was  sold  there  at  a 
good  rate,  and  from  thence  she  freighted  for  Malaga. 
She  arrived  in  Boston  March  23,  1644,  laden  with  wine, 
fruit,  oil,  iron  and  wool,  "which  was  of  great  advantage 
to  the  country  and  gave  encouragement  to  trade."  As 
soon  as  she  was  again  fitted,  she  was  sent  to  trade  with 
the  French  along  the  eastern  coast  towards  Canada. 

This  record  of  Winthrop's,  regarding  the  ventures  of 
the  Trial,  is  typical  of  the  course  of  early  trade  in  the 
Bay.  Fish  was  the  staple  commodity  for  barter  with 
foreign  ports  from  the  first.  The  fisheries  constituted 
the  principal  commercial  resource  of  the  colony  and  were 
carefully  promoted  by  its  government.  It  was  said  that 
in   1641   300,000  dry  fish   were   sent   to  market.      The 


Boston  and  the  Fisheeies.  Ill 

Bay  fisheries  seem  first  to  have  been  undertaken  in  1633 
by  men  of  Dorchester,  who  engaged  actively  in  the  fur 
trade  also.  It  was  claimed  that  the  Bay  cod  were  twice 
as  large  as  those  caught  on  the  Grand  Banks.  Capt. 
John  Smith  had  declared  that  the  New  England  fisheries 
promised  better  than  the  "best  mine  the  King  of  Spain 
hath."  In  the  working  of  this  mine,  the  Bay  colonists 
developed  great  energy  and  enterprise,  so  that  fish  was  a 
staple  commodity  throughout  the  Colonial  and  Provincial 
periods.  The  General  Court  took  measures  for  the  pro- 
motion and  protection  of  the  fishery.  Thus,  in  1639, 
vessels  and  stock  engaged  in  fishing  were  exempted  from 
"all  country  charges"  for  seven  years,  and  it  is  note- 
worthy that  fishermen  and  shipwrights  were  exempted 
from  military  duties.  The  Rev.  Hugh  Peter,  in  1635, 
was  very  active  in  his  efforts  to  procure  capital  to  set 
up  a  fishing  business  in  Massachusetts.  The  importance 
of  the  fishery  was  a  favorite  topic  in  his  pulpit  deliverances 
at  Boston  and  Salem. 

The  British  State  Papers  of  1664  are  authority  for  the 
statement  that  Boston,  with  14,300  (sic)  souls  had  a 
great  trade  to  Barbadoes  in  fish  and  other  provisions; 
300  vessels  traded  to  the  West  Indies,  Virginia,  Madeira, 
etc.,  and  1,300  "boats"  fished  in  the  waters  about  Cape 
Sable,  and  there  was  a  great  mackerel  fishery  in  Cape 
Cod  Bay.  It  may  be  that  "Boston,"  as  was  frequently 
the  case,  here  meant  Massachusetts. 

The  wars  between  England  and  France  caused  fluctua- 
tions in  the  trade  of  New  England.  Thus,  during  King 
George's  War,  which  broke  out  in  1744,  the  exports  of 
codfish  from  Massachusetts  Bay  in  1748  were  only  some 
53,000  quintals,  whereas  in  1716  they  had  amounted  to 
120,384  quintals.      In  1769  the  merchants  of  Boston  cal- 


112  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

culated  that  upwards  of  400  vessels  were  constantly 
employed  in  the  fishery,  whose  annual  profits  of  upwards 
of  £160,000  were  remitted  to  meet  the  cost  of  imports 
from  Great  Britain. 

Boston,  like  other  towns,  sometimes  made  special 
efforts  to  promote  the  fishing  interest.  In  1753,  while 
the  French  and  Indian  War  was  waging,  the  Town  leased 
Deer  Island  at  an  annual  rent  of  20  shillings  for  seven  years 
to  a  company  that  had  set  up  a  fishing  station  at  Point 
Shirley,  in  Chelsea,  on  condition  that  twenty  vessels 
belonging  to  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  should  be  employed 
constantly.  In  1758,  because  of  depredations  by  the 
French  on  the  fishing  fleet,'  the  lessees  of  Deer  Island 
surrendered  their  lease. 

In  1781,  less  than  two  months  after  the  surrender  of 
Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  the  Town  Meeting  of  Boston 
adopted  vigorous  instructions  to  its  Representatives, 
and  voted  to  incorporate  them  in  a  circular  letter  to  the 
other  maritime  towns  of  Massachusetts.  This  action 
was  taken  in  response  to  a  letter  from  the  Town  of 
Marblehead  in  relation  to  "the  Fishery."  As  usual, 
the  "Honble  Samuel  Adams,  Esqr."  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  committee  to  draft  the  instructions  and 
the  circular  letter.     The  instructions  say: 

"In  a  Time  of  Peace  —  We  must  depend  only  upon 
the  Staple  Commodities  of  our  own  Country  for  the  Sup- 
port of  our  commerce.  These  commodities  exclusive  of 
the  Fishery,  will  consist  only  of  Lumber,  and  a  small 
quantity  of  Inland  Provisions.  These  Articles  were  never 
supposed  more  than  Sufficient  to  ballance  our  West 
India  Importations;  for  every  European  Article  of  con- 
sumption therefore  (which  was  formerly  paid  for  by  our 
Fish  and  Oyl)  the  Trade  must  be  in  debt." 


The  Fisheries  of  Massachusetts.  113 

The  instructions  conclude: 

"We  instruct  and  direct  you,  in  the  Approaching 
Sessions  of  the  Legislature  of  this  Commonwealth  to  move 
for  and  to  use  your  influence  to  procure  an  Application 
to  Congress,  that  they  would  give  positive  Instructions  to 
their  Commissioners  for  negotiating  a  Peace,  to  make 
the  right  of  the  United  States  to  the  Fishery  an  Independ- 
ent Article  of  the  Treaty." 

The  instructions  of  Boston  to  its  Representatives  in 
1783  contain  the  following  injunction: 

"  You  will  always  remember  that  you  represent  a  Trad- 
ing Town;  and  therefore  while  you  justly  give  your 
Attention  to  every  Consideration  which  may  lead  to 
promote  Agriculture  in  its  utmost  extent,  you  will  not 
fail  to  exert  yourselves  in  proposing  and  enforcing  every 
Measure  Adapted  to  cherish  and  extend  our  Trade,  and 
to  encourage  the  Fishery,  which  by  the  Blessing  of 
Heaven  is  secured  to  us  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace." 

Now,  as  from  the  beginning,  the  fisheries  constitute  an 
important  industry  in  Massachusetts,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  manufactures,  transportation  and  trade 
each  employ  vastly  greater  numbers  of  persons  and 
amounts  of  capital.  Returns  of  the  last  Federal  Census 
show,  for  1908,  that  Massachusetts  ranked  first  among 
the  States  of  the  Union  as  to  (a)  capital  invested  in 
fishing;  (6)  value  of  fishing  vessels;  and  (c)  the  value  of 
products, —  although  she  was  third  as  regards  number  of 
vessels  and  of  persons  employed.  For  the  whole  country, 
among  products  of  the  fisheries,  oysters,  salmon  and  cod 
were  ranked  in  the  order  named  as  to  value. 

Massachusetts  stood  first  as  to  the  catch  of  18  species 
of    salt-water    food    fish,   including   cod,   haddock    and 


114  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

mackerel.  The  fishing  industry  of  the  state  centers  in 
Gloucester  and  Boston.  For  these  ports,  the  best 
available  returns  are  for  1905.  In  that  year,  the  Glouces- 
ter fleet  numbered  313  vessels,  aggregating  24,776  tons, 
and  gave  employment  to  4,264  fishermen;  the  corre- 
sponding figures  for  Boston  being  109  vessels,  8,898  tons, 
and  1,669  fishermen.  Investments  in  sea  and  shore 
fisheries  amounted  to  $4,594,000  in  Gloucester,  against 
$1,425,000  in  Boston.  The  value  of  food  fish  returned 
was  $3,343,000  for  the  former,  and  $2,385,000  for  the 
latter.  The  value  of  food  fish  preparations,  including 
pickled  and  salted  fish,  was  $6,707,000  for  Gloucester,  and 
$618,000  for  Boston. 

But  Boston  outranks  every  other  port  in  the  country 
as  a  market  for  fresh  fish,  oysters  being  excluded.  In 
1914,  receipts  of  fresh  fish  at  Boston  amounted  to  922,311 
quintals,  valued  at  $2,609,877,  against  493,438  quintals, 
valued  at  $1,031,769,  landed  at  Gloucester.  In  the 
same  year,  99.8  per  cent  of  the  fish  landed  at  Boston  were 
classed  as  fresh  and  0.2  as  salt,  whereas  at  Gloucester 
the  corresponding  per  cents  were  57.9  and  42.1. 

During  its  growth  and  prosperity,  the  American  whale 
fishery  centered  in  Massachusetts.  It  does  so  still, 
although  the  industry  has  dwindled  to  a  pitiful  remnant 
of  its  former  proportions.  The  value  of  its  products 
amounted  to  $2,323,000  in  1880,  but  to  only  $497,000  in 
1908.  In  1908  the  whalers  of  Massachusetts,  hailing 
mostly  from  New  Bedford,  were  credited  with  $89,000 
worth  of  whalebone,  or  45  per  cent  of  the  United  States ;  and 
$247,000  worth  of  oil,  or  88  per  cent  of  the  United  States. 

The  whale  fishery  of  New  England  had  its  beginning 
in  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  the  salvage 
of  stranded  whales  on  the  shores  of  the  Island  of  Nan- 


The  Whale  Fishery.  115 

tucket  and  of  Cape  Cod.  Whale  hunting  in  boats  was 
the  next  step.  It  culminated  at  Nantucket  in  1726,  when 
the  catch  numbered  86.  For  the  whaleboat  and  the 
schooner,  a  foremost  place  among  Yankee  inventions  may 
be  claimed.  The  first  schooner  rigged  vessel  was  built 
at  Gloucester  in  1714,  but  the  development  of  the  whale- 
boat  began  still  earlier. 

As  the  shore  and  boat  fishery  of  the  right  whale  grew 
less,  ventures  in  sea-going  craft  increased.  The  first 
vessel  in  this  business  was  registered  in  1698  at  Nan- 
tucket, where  9  sloops  were  registered  in  1714,  a  year 
after  the  pursuit  of  sperm  whales  began.  The  "Hope," 
of  40  tons,  built  in  Boston,  was  the  largest.  In  1730 
the  number  of  vessels  had  increased  to  25,  with  an  out- 
put of  3,700  barrels  of  oil. 

John  Hull,  the  mintmaster,  is  said  to  have  started  in 
Boston  the  exporting  of  whale  oil  about  1670.  At  any 
rate,  Boston  was  the  principal  commercial  port  for  the 
whale  fishery  in  its  early  period.  Randolph  noted  the 
export  to  England  of  200  tons  of  oil  in  1687.  In  1745, 
just  before  the  Nantucketers  began  to  hunt  whales  in 
Arctic  waters,  they  sent  10,000  barrels  of  oil  to  Boston. 
The  British  government  encouraged  this  fishery  by  a 
bounty  of  40  shillings  a  ton  for  oil  in  1745.  The  manu- 
facture of  sperm  candles  was  a  derivative  result  of  the 
sperm  whale  fishery.  In  1761  New  England  had  8  such 
factories  and  Philadelphia  one. 

The  industry  suffered  a  severe  set  back  at  the  out- 
break of  the  Revolution,  when  Nantucket,  which  was 
still  its  chief  center,  had  more  than  1^0  vessels,  averag- 
ing 100  tons,  afloat.  The  estimated  annual  produce  of 
the  fishery,  when  the  Boston  Port  Bill  took  effect,  was: 
53,500  barrels  of  oil  and  75,000  pounds  of  bone.      In 


116  Boston  and  Its  Stoey. 

1775  Massachusetts  gave  bounties  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  fishery;  but  it  continued  to  languish  till 
after  the  close  of  the  war.  About  1789  the  pursuit  of 
whales  was  extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

"The  Golden  Age  of  the  business  was  in  the  years 
1835-46.  Then  the  United  States,  and  chiefly  New 
England,  employed  678  ships  and  barks,  35  brigs,  22 
schooners.  They  registered  233,189  tons,  and  were 
valued  at  $21,075,000.  At  the  same  time,  the  foreign 
fleet  included  230  vessels.  .  .  .  After  the  full  develop- 
ment of  the  deep  sea  fishery,  New  England  easily  led  all 
the  world." 

In  1629,  when  the  Bay  Company  was  incorporated,  the 
colonial  policy  of  England  was  largely  what  the  King 
chose  to  make  it, —  Parliament  had  practically  no  say  in 
the  matter.  Moreover,  the  commercial  policy  of  the 
Kingdom  was  still  ill-defined  and  feeble.  Under  its 
charter,  the  Company  was  free  "to  transport  to  New 
England  persons  and  commodities  of  every  sort  without 
paying  any  custom  or  subsidy  either  inward  or  outward 
for  seven  years."  It  was  likewise  exempted  for  twenty- 
one  years  from  all  taxes  and  impositions  upon  imports 
or  exports  so  far  as  the  realm  of  England  was  concerned. 

In  the  period  1630-40,  despite  the  machinations  of 
Archbishop  Laud,  Sir  F.  Gorges  and  others  of  the  King's 
party  against  the  chartered  rights  of  the  Bay  Company, 
immigrants  poured  into  New  England  through  the  port 
of  Boston,  and  the  Bay  Company  was  transformed  by 
the  informing  Puritan  spirit  into  an  almost  independent 
state.  The  founders  of  Massachusetts,  enjoying  the 
privileges  of  free  trade,  were  able  to  work  out  their 
economic  development  in  their  own  way. 

Under  the  stimulus  of  opportunity,  their  commercial 


Beginnings  of  Commerce.  117 

instincts  were  speedily  aroused.  Accordingly,  the  trade 
of  Boston  grew  both  in  volume  and  variety  from  the  first, 
by  reason  of  the  enterprise  shown  in  developing  coastwise 
traffic  in  fish  and  furs,  corn  and  tobacco.  Thus,  in  May, 
1631,  there  arrived  in  Boston  a  pinnace  from  Virginia 
laden  with  corn  and  tobacco,  and  in  1634  a  single  vessel 
brought  10,000  bushels  of  corn  from  thence.  Winthrop's 
bark,  the  Blessing  of  the  Bay,  launched  in  1631,  traded 
with  the  Dutch  at  Manhattan,  and  with  Saint  Kitts,  one 
of  the  West  India  Islands,  as  well  as  with  English  settle- 
ments in  New  Hampshire  and  Maine.  Winthrop  makes 
frequent  mention  of  the  arrival  at  Boston,  in  coastwise 
craft,  of  passengers  bound  for  England.  In  1633  a  small 
ship  of  sixty  tons  was  built  at  Medford.  This  craft, 
"The  Rebecca,"  in  1634  brought  500  bushels  of  corn 
from  Narragansett,  and  in  March,  1636,  arrived  from 
Bermuda  "with  30,000  weight  of  potatoes,  and  store  of 
oranges  and  limes."  The  number  of  craft  engaged  in  this 
early  coastwise  trade  cannot  be  stated,  but  in  1635  the 
number  of  English  ships  trading  to  New  England  was  put 
at  more  than  "forty  sail,"  of  which  "six  at  least"  were 
said  to  belong  in  New  England. 

In  the  period  1640-60,  which  was  signalized  by  the 
Civil  War,  the  emergence  and  downfall  of  the  Puritan 
Commonwealth  in  England,  the  Puritan  Commonwealth 
in  the  Bay  continued  to  prosper.  In  1643  the  Long 
Parliament  showed  its  favor  by  formally  granting  it  free 
trade.  This  measure  seems  to  have  stimulated  industrial 
enterprise  in  and  about  Boston.  Massachusetts  fisher- 
men began  to  extend  their  operations  to  the  Banks  of 
Newfoundland.  Exportation  of  masts  to  England,  which 
began  as  early  as  1634,  attained  large  proportions.  Ship- 
building began  in  Boston  in  1642,  where  a  rope-walk  had 


118  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

been  started  in  1641.  By  1719  there  were  fourteen  ship- 
yards in  Boston,  and  by  1741  it  sustained  an  equal 
number  of  rope-walks. 

It  was  officially  set  forth  by  the  Lords  of  Trade,  in 
1721,  respecting  the  Province  of  Massachusetts,  that  the 
people  had  "all  sorts  of  common  manufactures,  but  that 
the  branch  of  trade  that  was  of  most  importance  to  them, 
and  which  they  were  best  enabled  to  carry  on  was  the 
building  of  ships,  sloops,  etc."  About  150  vessels  were 
built  in  a  year,  measuring  6,000  tons,  mostly  for  sale 
abroad,  while  there  were  about  190  sail  owned  in  the 
Province,  besides  150  boats  employed  in  the  coast  fisheries. 

In  1736  there  were  43  vessels  on  the  stocks  at  one  time 
in  Boston,  and  41  in  1738.  In  1749  the  number  of  such 
vessels  had  declined  to  15.  But  the  decline  of  ship- 
building at  Boston  in  this  period  is  attributable  in  some 
measure  to  its  increase  in  other  towns  of  Massachusetts, 
e.  gm)  Gloucester  and  Haverhill.  It  is  said  that  in  the 
period  1769-71,  "more  than  one  half  of  the  American 
tonnage,  or  from  10,000  to  12,000  tons,  were  built  in  Mas- 
sachusetts and  New  Hampshire. 

By  1642  the  manufacture  of  linen  and  cotton  cloth  had 
begun  on  a  modest  scale,  and  in  1643,  when  Boston  granted 
3,000  acres  of  land  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  and  his  asso- 
ciates for  the  encouragement  of  the  iron  works  at  Brain- 
tree,  ambitious  undertakings  for  the  smelting  of  native 
iron  ore  were  projected.  But  ship  building  was  the  lead- 
ing branch  of  manufactures  in  Boston  for  more  than  a 
century.  About  this  time,  trade  with  the  West  Indies 
became  more  active,  and  Boston  merchants  extended  their 
trade  to  the  Azores  and  the  Canary  Islands,  as  well  as  to 
Spain  and  Portugal.  The  brisk  trade  with  the  West 
Indies  brought  in  much  Spanish  silver,  some  of  it  counter- 


The  Navigation  Act.  119 

feit.  So,  in  1652,  the  General  Court  established  a  mint 
in  Boston,  and  John  Hull  of  Boston,  a  leading  business 
man  and  an  extensive  ship  owner,  was  made  mintmaster. 
The  mint  was  discontinued  when  Andros  was  Governor. 

During  the  Protectorate  of  Cromwell,  the  commercial 
policy  of  England  became  more  vigorous  and  definite. 
Originally  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  wresting  commer- 
cial supremacy  from  the  Dutch,  it  exerted  a  powerful  and 
malign  influence  upon  the  development  of  the  colonial 
policy  of  the  British  government  for  over  a  century  after 
the  Restoration  in  1660. 

Cromwell's  Navigation  Act  of  1651  provided  that  all 
colonial  trade  should  be  carried  on  in  ships  built  and 
owned  in  England  or  her  colonies,  and  that  as  regards 
certain  commodities,  trade  should  be  with  England  only. 
But  Cromwell  did  not  enforce  the  act  against  New 
England. 

The  Restoration  in  1660  marked  the  opening  of  a  new 
era  in  the  history  of  the  American  colonies.  The  British 
government  set  about  controlling  both  the  trade  and 
internal  affairs  of  its  overseas  dependencies.  The  Council 
for  Trade  and  Plantations  was  revived.  This  was  the 
forerunner  of  the  Lords  of  Trade  whose  ill-judged  activity 
in  the  eighteenth  century  proved  a  potent  factor  in  the 
alienation  of  the  colonies.  In  1660  and  1663  the  Navi- 
gation Act  was  re-enacted.  Notwithstanding  repeated 
threats  to  the  contrary,  strenuous  efforts  to  enforce  it 
were  not  made  for  a  dozen  years.  Possibly  Charles  the 
Second's  rising  displeasure  with  the  Bay  Colony  was 
somewhat  mitigated  for  a  time,  by  the  present,  in  1666, 
of  masts  for  the  royal  navy  which  are  said  to  have  cost 
the  General  Court  £2,000.  Mention  is  made  of  a  present 
to  the  King  of  samp,  cranberries  and  codfish  from  Massa- 


120  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

chusetts  and  the  Merry  Monarch's  favorite  oath  is  said 
to  have  been  "  Cod's  fish!" 

But  complaints  continued  against  Massachusetts  and, 
in  1676,  Edward  Randolph,  who  became  its  inveterate 
enemy,  arrived  in  Boston  as  an  agent  of  the  Crown.  After 
two  months'  stay,  during  which  his  attention  was  chiefly 
confined  to  the  colony,  "  commonly  called  the  Corporation 
of  Boston,"  he  returned  to  England,  and  made  a  highly 
interesting  report  of  his  investigations.  In  Boston,  "the 
mart-town  of  the  West  Indies,"  there  was  "  no  notice  taken 
of  the  Act  of  Navigation."  It  had  extensive  commerce 
with  "most  parts  of  Europe."  Vessels  had  been  sent 
even  "to  Guinea,  Madagascar  and  those  coasts  laden  with 
masts  and  yards  for  ships."  He  reported  that  the  "ves- 
sels built  in  or  belonging  to  that  colony"  numbered  thirty, 
ranging  between  100  and  250  tons'  burden,  besides  700 
of  less  than  100  tons. 

Randolph,  who  is  said  to  have  made  eight  voyages  to 
New  England  in  nine  years,  succeeded  in  inducing  Charles 
II.  to  institute  more  rigorous  measures  for  the  control  of 
New  England.  Late  in  1679  he  arrived  for  the  second 
time  in  Boston,  having  been  appointed  "collector,  sur- 
veyor, and  searcher  of  customs"  in  all  the  New  England 
colonies.  He  brought  a  letter  from  the  King,  enjoining 
"a  strict  obedience  to  the  Acts  of  Trade  and  Navigation." 
Randolph  seized  several  vessels,  but  could  not  secure  their 
condemnation  by  the  courts.  He  formally  complained 
to  the  King  against  the  obstructive  and  evasive  "Bos- 
toneers,"  charging,  among  other  things,  that  through 
their  violation  of  the  acts  and  consequent  engrossment  of 
the  West  India  trade,  his  Majesty  was  annually  deprived 
of  £100,000  in  the  customs.  In  1681  he  returned  from 
England  with  enlarged  powers  and  brought  still  more 


SIMON     BRADSTREET,    THE     LAST    COLONIAL    GOVERNOR. 


Free  Trade  in  Massachusetts.  121 

peremptory  orders  from  the  crown,  coupled  with  threats 
against  the  charter,  although  the  General  Court  in  1679 
had  passed  an  act  requiring  compliance  with  the  Naviga- 
tion Act. 

The  struggle  went  on  and  resulted  in  the  revocation 
of  the  Charter  in  1684;  seizure  of  the  Colony's  liberties 
into  the  King's  hands  in  1686;  and  Andros's  tyranny 
from  1686-89.  So  in  its  clash  with  the  Crown  over 
restrictions  on  its  trade,  the  Bay  Colony  lost  its  charter 
and  was  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  Royal  Province. 

But  it  should  be  remembered  that  in  1679,  after  pro- 
fessing compliance  with  the  royal  commands,  the  General 
Court  wrote  to  its  agents  regarding  the  Acts  of  Trade 
and  Navigation  that  "they  apprehended  them  to  be  an 
invasion  of  the  rights,  liberties,  and  properties  of  the 
subjects  of  his  Majesty  in  this  Colony,  they  not  being 
represented  in  parliament,  etc."  It  is  rather  startling  to 
find  the  kernel  of  Sam  Adams's  argument  against  the 
Stamp  Act  set  forth  in  1679  by  a  General  Court,  pre- 
sided over  by  the  conservative.  Simon  Bradstreet,  who 
had  been  a  Magistrate  ever  since  1629.  With  Bradstreet 's 
death  in  1697,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four,  the  last  of  the 
founders  of  Massachusetts  passed  away. 

Massachusetts  down  to  1692  enjoyed  free,  open  trade 
with  all  the  world,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  restric- 
tive measures  of  the  Stuarts  were  little  better  than  dead 
letters,  owing  to  the  feeble  efforts  of  the  authorities  to 
secure  their  enforcement  and  the  success  of  the  merchants 
in  evading  them.  King  William  III.,  like  his  successors, 
was  committed  to  a  vigorous  commercial  and  colonial 
policy,  but  it  was  reserved  for  the  House  of  Hanover 
to  develop  that  policy  to  such  a  degree  as  to  infuriate 
and  alienate  all  America. 


122  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

The  Royal  Governors  of  Massachusetts  from  Andros 
to  Gage  were  generally  placemen.  Hutchinson's  com- 
ment on  Governor  Burnet  is  applicable  to  most  of  them. 
"He  did  not  know  the  temper  of  the  people  of  New  Eng- 
land. They  have  a  strong  sense  of  liberty,  and  are  more 
easily  drawn  than  driven."  Sir  William  Phips,  the 
first  Royal  Governor,  was  a  self-made  man  and  a  native 
New  Englander,  but  not  a  Massachusetts  man.  He  was 
the  son  of  a  Maine  mechanic,  and  became  a  shipmaster. 
His  success  in  raising  a  Spanish  treasure  ship  and  his 
extraordinary  honesty  in  turning  all  of  the  recovered 
treasure,  some  £300,000  in  value,  over  to  his  employers 
won  him  his  knighthood.  But  Phips  was  a  better  ship- 
master than  Governor.  He  was  a  two-fisted  brawler  and 
was  summoned  to  England,  where  he  died  in  1698,  to 
answer  complaints  against  certain  high-handed  proceed- 
ings against  the  King's  agents  in  Boston. 

The  Earl  of  Bellomont,  a  rather  easy-going  personage, 
succeeded  Phips.  He  occupied  two  gubernatorial  chairs, 
being  at  once  Governor,  of  Massachusetts  and  Governor 
of  New  York.  He  died  in  New  York  in  1701.  His  suc- 
cessor in  Massachusetts  was  Joseph  Dudley,  a  native  of 
Roxbury,  who  was  succeeded  by  Samuel  Shute,  an  English- 
man, in  1716,  in  whose  administration  the  struggle 
between  the  colonists  and  the  Royal  Governors  may  be 
said  to  have  begun. 

Bellomont  was  impressed  by  the  extent  of  Boston's 
trade,  and  ventured  the  statement  that  "there  were 
more  ships  belonging  to  the  town  of  Boston  than  to  all 
Scotland  and  Ireland."  He  reported  that  in  1698,  when 
there  were  63  wharves  in  Boston  and  14  in  Charlestown, 
193  ships  were  owned  in  Boston.    In  1709  Governor  Dudley 


Commerce  of  Boston,  1709-16.  123 

set  their  number  at  250.     In  1716  the  value  of  exports 
from  New  England  was  estimated  at  £300,000. 

The  returns  of  the  commerce  of  Boston  for  the  three 
years  ending  June  4,  1717,  accounted  for  the  clearance  of 
1,267  vessels  (of  which  1,200  were  plantation  built), 
amounting  to  62,688  tons,  and  employing  upwards  of 
8,000  men.  This  was  an  average  of  422  vessels,  and  of 
more  than  20,000  tons  for  the  three  years.  The  clearances 
from  the  port  of  New  York  for  the  same  period  averaged 
7,000  tons.  The  following  statement  shows  the  destina- 
tion of  the  vessels  outward  bound  from  Boston  in  the 
period  mentioned. 

Cleared  for : 

West  Indies 518     Europe 43 

British  Plantations 390  Madeira,  Azores,  etc . . .  34 

(coastwise?)  Bay  of  Campeachy  in 

Great  Britain. 143         Mexico 25 

Foreign  plantations ...  58     Ports  unknown 11 

Newfoundland 45 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
manufacture  of  rum  from  molasses  introduced  a  new 
element  into  the  industrial  and  commercial  activities  of 
Boston  and  New  England.  The  beginnings  of  the  dis- 
tilling industry  are  rather  obscure.  Originally,  molasses 
appears  to  have  been  considered  a  useless  by-product  by 
the  sugar  planters  of  the  West  Indies,  so  that  Boston 
traders  secured  an  abundant  supply  of  it  at  favorable 
rates  in  exchange  for  fish.  Emanuel  Downing,  Governor 
Winthrop's  brother-in-law,  began  distilling  in  Salem,  in 


124  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

1648.  Mention  is  made  of  a  stillhouse  in  1714  in  Boston, 
which,  a  dozen  years  later,  was  credited  with  eight  such 
establishments. 

The  Molasses  Act,  passed  by  Parliament  in  1733, 
levied  a  prohibitive  duty  of  Qd.  per  gallon  upon  molasses 
imported  into  the  Colonies  from  other  than  British  ports. 
It  aimed  at  the  breaking  up  of  trade  with  the  French, 
Dutch  and  Spanish  islands  which  furnished  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island  distillers  with  most  of  their  molasses. 
In  1764  the  duty  was  reduced  to  3d.  per  gallon.  But  the 
acts  were  evaded  and  rum  continued  to  be  a  staple  com- 
modity in  colonial  trade,  and  a  cause  of  friction  with 
the  British  government  for  more  than  a  generation. 
The  enforcement  of  the  Molasses  Act,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Navigation  Act,  was  lax  and  fitful  and  at  times 
corrupt.  It  has  been  noted  that  during  the  middle 
third  of  the  eighteenth  century,  "The  whole  commercial 
atmosphere  of  the  colonies  was  surcharged  with  illicit 
trade  in  one  or  another  form." 

The  Boston  Town  Meeting  appealed  to  the  General 
Court  in  1735  for  an  abatement  in  the  Province  tax,  and 
alleged  that  the  Molasses  Act  had  lessened  "the  Distil- 
lery of  this  Town  at  least  one  half,"  thereby  interfering 
with  the  export  of  rum  to  almost  all  parts  of  British 
America.  Consequently  trade  was  hampered  with  New- 
foundland as  well  as  with  the  Carolinas,  etc.,  for  naval 
stores,  rice,  grain  and  flour. 

In  1742,  when  Boston  renewed  its  plea  for  abatement 
of  taxes,  the  Town  Meeting's  memorial  declared  that  the 
general  trade  of  the  Town  was  less  by  one  half  than  in 
1735,  the  amount  of  molasses  distilled  was  barely  two 
thirds  of  what  it  had  been  in  that  year;  trade  with  the 
West  Indies  was  "reduced  to  almost  nothing,"  as  was 


The  Distilling  Industry.  125 

the  building  of  ships,  which  had  formerly  given  employ- 
ment to  more  persons  than  all  other  branches  of  trade 
taken  together. 

Incidentally,  it  may  be  noted  that  in  the  period 
1735-42,  the  Town  Rate  rose  from  £7,800  to  £11,000; 
the  charge  for  the  poor  from  £2,070  to  £5,000;  the  support 
of  the  ministry  from  £8,000  to  £12,000.  Moreover,  the 
excessively  high  price  of  provisions  was  a  source  of 
impoverishment  to  Boston.  An  influential  factor  in  the 
unsatisfactory  condition  of  Boston's  finances  and  com- 
merce at  this  time  was  the  inflation  of  the  currency, 
caused  by  the  issue  of  paper  money,  that  had  been  going 
on  for  more  than  twenty  years. 

Doubtless  the  commerce  and  manufactures  of  Boston 
were  deranged  at  times,  owing  to  annoying  instructions 
from  his  Majesty  to  the  Governors  of  Massachusetts;  to 
economic  disturbances,  owing  to  England's  frequent  wars 
with  continental  powers;  and  to  the  stubborn  insistence 
of  the  merchants  on  trading  with  whom  they  pleased. 
But  in  spite  of  the  lugubrious  utterances  of  Bostonians 
and  others  as  to  the  decline  of  the  Town's  commerce,  the 
fact  remains  that  notwithstanding  increased  competition 
with  other  colonial  ports,  and  of  restrictive  measures  by 
the  British  government,  Boston  never  lost  its  primacy  as  a 
port  until  it  was  closed  by  the  Boston  Port  Act  in  1774. 

It  is  certain  that  trade  was  brisk  in  1750,  and  that  rum 
helped  to  make  it  so.  Rum  from  Boston  or  Newport 
distilleries  was  then  the  staple  export  in  the  ventures  to 
the  Gold  Coast  in  exchange  for  negroes  and  gold  dust.  In 
an  official  document  it  was  reported  that  in  1750  there 
were  63  distilleries  in  Massachusetts,  in  which  more 
than  15,000  hogsheads  of  molasses  were  consumed. 
The  report  notes  that  rum  served  as  merchandise  for 


126  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Guinea,  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland,  and  the  southern 
colonies,  "and  as  store  for  consumption  of  about  900  ves- 
sels engaged  in  the  various  branches  of  their  trade  at  sea." 
The  report  also  mentioned  that  200  vessels  were  engaged 
annually  in  the  mackerel  and  other  small  catch  for  the 
West  Indies;  400  vessels  in  the  cod  fishery;  and  100  in 
the  whale  fishery.  In  another  official  statement,  dated  in 
1764,  it  was  estimated  that  for  more  than  30  years 
Rhode  Island  had  annually  sent  18  vessels  with  1,800 
hogsheads  of  rum  to  the  Gold  Coast.  The  Guinea  negroes 
were  mostly  disposed  of  in  the  West  Indies  or  the  southern 
colonies.  Still,  there  was  a  market  for  slaves  in  Massa- 
chusetts as  in  Rhode  Island,  even  in  the  second  third  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  A  writer  in  the  Boston  News  Letter, 
in  1769,  claimed  that  23,743  negroes  were  imported  "  into 
this  province,"  in  the  period  1756-66.  Very  likely  the 
negroes  entered  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  were  included  in  the 
total  credited  to  Massachusetts.  In  1774  the  New  Eng- 
land colonies  forbade  the  importation  of  negroes.  But 
the  manufacture  of  New  England  rum  continued  to  be  an 
important  and  lucrative  interest  in  Massachusetts  long 
after  the  Revolution. 

The  distilling  of  rum  from  molasses  still  centers  in  Bos- 
ton and  its  immediate  vicinity.  In  1914,  out  of  19  such 
concerns  in  the  United  States,  6  were  in  Massachusetts, 
and  3  in  Boston.  In  the  fiscal  year  1915,  the  exports  of 
rum  from  Boston  amounted  to  1,161,435  gallons,  valued 
at  $1,555,086.  In  other  words,  the  exports  of  rum 
from  Boston  in  1915  equalled  94  per  cent  of  the  total 
quantity  exported  from  the  United  States,  and  98  per 
cent  of  its  value.  In  the  five  years  1910-14,  the  annual 
value  of  the  rum  exported  from  Boston  averaged 
$1,649,000.    Most  of  it  went  to  the  West  Coast  of  Africa. 


The  Molasses  and  Stamp  Acts.  127 

In  the  period  1764-74,  the  relations  of  England  and 
her  American  colonies  became  strained  to  the  breaking 
point.  The  triumphant  close  for  England  of  the  French 
and  Indian  War,  in  1763,  removed  one  of  the  strongest 
bonds  between  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies.  The 
colonial  policy  of  the  British  government  grew  increasingly 
arbitrary  and  exasperating.  Grenville's  Ministry  under- 
took: to  enforce  the  acts  of  Trade  and  Navigation  more 
stringently  than  they  ever  had  been;  to  raise  revenue  for 
the  imperial  treasury  by  taxation  of  the  colonies;  and 
to  establish  a  Colonial  Department,  in  place  of  the  Lords 
of  Trade,  for  the  more  effectual  control  of  all  the  colonies. 

In  1764,  Parliament  re-enacted  the  Molasses  Act  of 
1733,  in  such  terms  as  to  protect  the  British  West  Indian 
planters  as  against  the  northern  colonies.  The  sugar 
plantations  in  the  British  West  Indies  were,  in  large  part, 
owned  by  men  resident  in  England,  who  were  able  to 
influence  parliamentary  elections,  while  the  colonists  had 
no  votes  in  Parliament  to  trade  with  the  King's  friends. 

The  Massachusetts  General  Court  protested  that  the 
effect  of  the  act  would  be  to  close  the  markets,  both  in 
the  West  Indies  and  in  Europe,  against  New  England 
fish  —  thus  rendering  useless  vessels  worth  £100,000,  and 
throwing  5,000  seamen  out  of  employment. 

In  1765,  the  Stamp  Act  was  passed.  It  met  with  such 
opposition  on  both  sides  of  the  water  as  to  cause  its  repeal 
in  1766.  But  in  that  year,  to  save  the  face  of  the  govern- 
ment, the  Declaratory  Act  was  passed,  which  asserted 
the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax  the  American  colonies. 
Hutchinson  dates  the  revolt  of  the  colonies  from  1766. 
At  any  rate,  the  Declaratory  Act  aroused  renewed  appre- 
hension and  resentment  in  Massachusetts.  In  1767,  the 
Townshend  Act,  levying  colonial  taxes  on  glass,  lead, 


128  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

paints,  paper  and  tea,  was  passed.  The  East  India  Com- 
pany, although  it  had  a  practical  monopoly  of  the  tea 
trade,  was  in  financial  straits.  The  act  remitted  the 
export  duty  from  England  of  one  shilling  per  pound,  but 
laid  a  duty  of  three  pence  per  pound  on  teas  imported 
into  America  from  England.  But  the  colonies  were  not 
to  be  cajoled  by  the  proffer  of  cheaper  teas  at  the  expense 
of  what  they  deemed  their  inalienable  right  —  not  to  be 
taxed  by  the  British  Parliament  in  which  they  were  not 
represented.  Moreover,  the  New  Englanders,  like  the 
English,  could  procure  smuggled  tea  from  Holland.  The 
East  India  Company  claimed  that  the  annual  consumption 
of  tea  in  America  at  this  period  amounted  to  more  than 
£3,000,000  in  value. 

In  Boston,  the  act  led  the  Town  Meeting  to  declare 
against  the  importation  of  English  commodities,  and  in 
1768,  a  combination  was  formed  "to  eat  nothing,  to  drink 
nothing,  to  wear  nothing  imported  from  Great  Britain, " 
and  the  merchants  agreed  not  to  import  British  goods. 
Accordingly,  English  exports  to  New  England  declined 
from  £430,809  in  1768  to  £223,696  in  1769,  or  48  per  cent. 

In  1770,  Parliament,  acknowledging  that  the  Town- 
shend  Act  embodied  a  mistaken  commercial  policy, 
repealed  all  the  taxes  levied  under  the  act,  except  that  on 
tea.  The  retention  of  the  tea  tax  was  attributed  to  the 
insistence  of  the  King,  who  was  said  to  "have  Boston  on 
the  brain." 

Late  in  1773,  a  crisis  was  precipitated  by  the  arrival  of 
vessels  from  England  with  cargoes  of  tea,  consigned  to 
agents  of  the  East  India  Company.  The  company  also 
sent  consignments  to  its  agents  in  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, and  Charleston,  S.  C.  Vigorous  opposition  in  all 
four  colonies  defeated  the  purposes  of  the  East  India 


The  Boston  Poet  Bill.  129 

Company.  But  the  " Boston  Tea  Party,"  on  December 
16, 1773,  when  a  party  of  Bostonians,  disguised  as  Mohawk 
Indians,  threw  the  cargoes  of  three  vessels  into  the  harbor, 
drew  upon  Boston's  devoted  head  the  resentment  of  the 
King  and  Parliament. 

In  order  to  punish  Boston,  the  Boston  Port  Act  was 
passed  in  March,  1774.  It  provided  that  Boston  should 
cease  to  be  a  port  of  entry  on  the  first  of  June,  1774,  unless 
the  Town  would  indemnify  the  East  India  Company  for 
the  loss  of  its  teas;  and  furthermore,  that  the  adminis- 
trative offices  of  the  colony  should  be  removed  to  Salem. 

The  Port  Act  was  followed  by  the  Regulating  Act  which 
practically  annulled  the  charter  of  the  Province  without 
notice.  It  provided  that  members  of  the  Council  should 
thereafter  be  appointed  by  the  King.  The  act  also  forbade 
town  meetings  throughout  the  Province,  except  for  hold- 
ing annual  elections,  or  by  the  special  permission  of  the 
Governor  for  the  consideration  of  matters  prescribed  by 
him.  Another  act  legalized  the  quartering  of  British 
troops  in  Boston  or  in  other  towns. 

General  Gage,  the  commander-in-chief  of  his  Majesty's 
forces  in  America,  was  sent  to  Boston  as  Royal  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  to  enforce  these  acts.  Gage  was  the 
second  professional  soldier  to  be  made  Governor  of 
Massachusetts.  As  in  the  case  of  Andros,  his  predecessor  s 
his  administration  ended  in  a  revolution! 

On  June  1,  1774,  the  Boston  Port  Bill  took  effect.  At 
noon,  when  the  custom  house  was  closed,  the  bells  were 
tolled.  "The  ruin,  and  starvation  of  Boston  at  once 
began.  The  industry  of  a  place  which  lived  by  the  build- 
ing, sailing,  and  unloading  of  ships  was  annihilated  in  a 
single  moment."  The  act  was  so  drastic  that  the  move- 
ment of  boats  from  wharf  to  wharf,  or  of  scows  from  the 


130  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

islands  in  the  harbor  to  the  town,  and  even  the  passage 
of  ferry  boats  was  interdicted.  Some  notion  of  the  extent 
of  Boston's  commerce  at  this  lime  may  be  gathered 
from  the  following  statement  concerning  entries  and 
clearances  of  the  port  in  the  year  1773: 

Entries.  Clearances. 

1773.  1773. 

From  West  Indies 192        From  West  Indies 134 

Great  Britain 71        Great  Britain 26 

Other  Ports 324        Other  Ports 251 

587  411 

The  woful  plight  of  Boston  aroused  sympathy  through- 
out the  Province  and  the  colonies.  The  suffering  town 
received  aid  in  cash  and  provisions  from  near  and  far. 
The  largest  contribution  in  money  was  £3,000  from  South 
Carolina.  The  cause  of  Boston  shortly  became  that  of 
the  colonies,  and  led  to  the  calling  of  the  first  Continental 
Congress,  which  met  in  September,  1774,  in  Philadelphia. 

Meanwhile,  the  Town  Meeting  took  active  measures  to 
meet  the  exigency.  A  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means 
to  succor  the  poor  of  the  town  was  appointed,  and  various 
public  works  to  provide  them  with  employment  were 
authorized.  Through  the  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
an  appeal  was  sent  to  all  the  other  colonies  "to  stop  all 
Importations  from  Great  Britain  and  Exportations  to 
Great  Britain  and  every  part  of  the  West  Indies  till  the 
Act  for  Blocking  up  this  Harbor  be  repealed." 

When  the  Continental  Congress  met  in  September, 
1774,  it  unanimously  resolved  that  after  the  first  day  of 
the  following  December  there  should  be  no  importation, 
purchase  or  use  of  commodities  from  Great  Britain  or 
Ireland,  and  that  after  a  year,  "  unless  the  grievances  of 
America  are  redressed  before  that  time,  exportations  to 


•— *-^^t*»y^- ■■     l^i,„n  -jj*1" 


THE    OLD     NORTH     CHURCH. 

From   the   steeple  of    this  church    Paul    Revere's   lantern 
April    18,    1775. 


s   were   hung  the   night  of 


Boston  the  Lord  Mayor  of  America.        131 

those  countries  from  the  colonies  should  cease."  It  may 
be  noted  that  British  exports  to  New  England  averaged 
£409,000  annually  in  the  five  years  preceding  the  Revolu- 
tion, against  imports  averaging  £384,000  in  value. 

When  the  new  Parliament  met  it  was  confronted  by  a 
very  different  state  of  affairs  from  that  anticipated  by  its 
predecessor,  which  had  been  assured  by  the  Prime  Min- 
ister that  "By  punishing  Boston,  all  America  would  be 
struck  with  a  panic."  Edmund  Burke  assured  Parliament 
that  the  "cause  of  Boston  is  become  the  cause  of  all 
America.  By  these  acts  of  oppression,  you  have  made 
Boston  the  Lord  Mayor  of  America."  But  Parliament 
proceeded,  in  the  spring  of  1775,  to  enact  the  Restraining 
Bill,  which  forbade  trade  from  New  England  ports  except 
to  the  British  Isles  and  the  British  West  India  Islands. 
Meanwhile,  the  contest  between  Governor  Gage  and  the 
Town  of  Boston  proceeded  on  such  lines  as  to  lead  to 
armed  revolt  at  Lexington,  Concord,  and  Bunker  Hill 
in  1775.  Thus,  Boston  furnished  the  scene  and  the 
actors  in  the  opening  act  of  the  drama  of  the  American 
Revolution. 

Maritime  enterprise  in  Massachusetts  during  the 
Revolution  was  largely  diverted  into  privateering,  which 
proved  a  profitable  business,  although  a  considerable 
trade  with  French  ports  was  developed  also.  During 
the  war,  the  number  of  registered  privateers  belonging  to 
Boston  rose  to  365,  while  those  of  Salem  numbered  180. 
Local  trade  was  considerably  stimulated  by  the  arrival  of 
the  French  fleet  in  1780. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1783,  the  trade  of  Boston 
began  to  resume  its  wonted  channels  as  regards  the  fishery 
and  shipbuilding.  But  Great  Britain  obstinately  clung 
to  its  old  commercial  policy  and  refused  to  modify  the 


132  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Navigation  Act  or  to  permit  reciprocity  in  trade  between 
its  ports  and  those  of  the  United  States.  In  the  commer- 
cial warfare  that  followed,  the  merchants  of  Massachu- 
setts had  to  seek  new  markets,  so  embarrassing  were  the 
British  restrictions  on  commerce  between  the  United 
States  and  the  ports  of  the  United  Kingdom  and  its 
remaining  colonies  in  America.  In  1849,  Great  Britain 
first  allowed  vessels  from  the  United  States  to  carry  cargoes 
from  the  British  West  Indies  to  England.  It  was  not 
till  1854  that  reciprocity  in  trade  was  established  by  treaty 
between  the  British  possessions  in  America  and  the  United 
States.  Unfortunately,  the  treaty  was  abrogated  by  the 
United  States  in  1866. 

The  British  orders  in  council  were  intended  to  shut 
American  ships  out  of  the  carrying  trade  and  to  prevent 
commercial  intercourse  between  the  British  West  Indies 
and  the  United  States  in  any  but  British  ships.  In  1786, 
Parliament  passed  an  act  forbidding  British  subjects  to 
own  or  employ  any  American-built  ship  unless  it  were 
built  before  1776,  although  ships  could  be  built  in  New 
England  and  sold  in  England  for  one-third  less  than 
British-built  vessels.  Nevertheless,  by  1788,  commercial 
prosperity  had  begun  to  smile  again  on  Boston.  The 
building  of  larger  ships  had  begun,  and  Boston  and  Salem 
merchants  were  already  fitting  out  vessels  for  China  and 
the  East  Indies. 

At  the  beginning  of  August,  1788,  "  trade  continued 
brisk"  in  Boston,  when  exports  aggregating  some  £216,000 
for  a  year  were  reported,  and  four  large  ships  of  300  tons 
were  about  to  be  launched.  Among  the  leading  exports, 
one  finds  mention  of:  fish,  £66,245;  New  England  rum, 
£50,620;   oil,  £34,864,  and  pot  and  pearl  ashes,  £30,485. 


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Boston's  Trade  with  China.  133 

In  July,  1788,  orders  were  received  in  Boston,  from  an 
American  agent  in  Canton,  for  the  building  of  a  larger 
ship  than  had  ever  been  constructed  in  America.  Accord- 
ingly, the  " Massachusetts"  of  820  tons,  and  "of  a  remark- 
ably fine  model"  was  laid  down  in  Germantown  (in 
Quincy,  near  Boston).  She  was  suited  with  sails  and 
cordage  made  in  Boston.  She  was  launched  in  Sep- 
tember, 1789,  and  seven  months  later  sailed  for  Batavia 
and  Canton.     In  Canton  she  was  sold  for  $65,000. 

In  1789,  Boston  sent  44  vessels  to  the  northwest  coast, 
to  India  and  to  China. 

The  beginnings  of  the  trade  with  China,  via  the  Isle 
of  France  (Mauritius),  was  made  by  a  Salem  ship,  the 
"  Grand  Turk,"  in  1758.  In  1787  the  French  opened  the 
isles  of  France  and  Bourbon  to  Americans  on  equal  terms 
with  their  own  citizens.  Of  23  American  vessels  arrived 
in  those  island  in  1789,  16  were  Boston  or  Salem  craft. 

In  this  branch  of  the  China  trade,  outward  bound  ships 
carried  mixed  cargoes  of  goods  imported  from  the  Conti- 
nent of  Europe,  besides  West  India  goods  and  domestic 
products  of  the  United  States.  The  same  ships,  returning, 
brought  teas  and  coffee,  spices,  silks  and  muslins,  for  which 
there  was  an  active  demand  in  the  principal  ports  on  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  that  had  close  commercial  relations  with 
Boston. 

Massachusetts  enjoyed  a  large  share  of  the  trade  with 
Russia,  which  had  begun  as  early  as  1784.  In  1803,  of 
90  American  vessels  arrived  at  St.  Petersburg,  in  the 
course  of  three  months,  54  belonged  in  Massachusetts. 
Iron  bars  and  rods  in  large  quantities,  imported  from 
Russia,  were  utilized  by  the  slitting  mills  of  Massachu- 
setts, which,  about  1790,  began  the  making  of  nails  and 


134  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

screws  by  machinery.  The  Russia  trade  continued  to  be 
large  and  profitable  till  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War 
in  1861. 

The  first  American  vessels  to  circumnavigate  the  globe 
were  the  Boston  ship  "  Columbia,"  of  212  tons,  and  the 
sloop  "Washington,"  of  90  tons.  They  were  fitted  out 
by  an  association  of  Boston  merchants,  and  despatched, 
in  1787,  to  the  Pacific  coast  to  procure  furs  from  the 
Indians,  to  be  exchanged  for  teas  in  Canton.  After  an 
absence  of  nearly  three  years,  the  Columbia  arrived  in 
Boston  on  August  10,  1790,  when  "the  whole  population 
of  the  town  assembled  on  the  wharves  to  welcome  her." 

In  May,  1792,  Captain  Gray  of  Boston,  in  the  Colum- 
bia, discovered  the  great  river  of  Oregon  and  named  it 
after  his  ship.  It  is  said  that  the  Indians  on  that  coast 
called  all  white  men  "Bostonais."  Subsequently,  the 
trade  with  China,  in  which  the  Columbia  was  the 
pioneer,  assumed  large  proportions,  besides  stimulating 
the  shipyards  of  Boston  to  produce  larger  and  faster  ships. 
In  the  two  and  one  half  years  ending  January  9,  1803,  of 
34,357  sea-otter  skins  imported  into  China,  valued  at 
about  $859,000,  88.5  per  cent  were  carried  in  Boston 
vessels.  During  the  same  period  over  one  million  seal 
skins  were  sent  from  the  northwest  coast  to  China.  They 
were  worth  perhaps  $900,000. 

The  China  trade  of  Boston  culminated  about  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  unfavorably  influenced 
by  ill-advised  legislation  of  Massachusetts,  in  1824,  when 
a  tax  of  1  per  cent  was  laid  on  sales  of  merchandise  at 
auction.  Cargoes  in  this  trade  were  then  usually  disposed 
of  at  public  auction.  It  was  not  till  1852  that  this  handi- 
cap was  removed;  but  meanwhile  the  China  trade  had 
been  largely  diverted  from  Boston  to  New  York.     In 


Exports  of  Ice  from  Boston.  135 

1857,  of  41  ships  arrived  in  New  York  from  China  —  20 
belonged  in  Boston.  In  the  same  year,  only  6  ships 
arrived  from  China  at  Boston. 

About  one  hundred  years  ago  the  export  of  ice  from 
Boston  to  Martinique  and  Jamaica  in  the  West  Indies 
was  started.  In  1833,  a  small  cargo  of  ice  was  shipped 
from  Boston  to  Calcutta.  The  trade  thus  initiated  later 
gave  Boston  the  key  to  lucrative  and  extensive  commerce 
between  Calcutta  and  the  United  States.  In  1857, 
upwards  of  10,000  tons  of  ice  were  exported  from  Boston 
to  the  East  Indies.  The  trade  culminated  in  1867,  when 
the  amount  exported  was  27,000  tons.  In  that  year  the 
foreign  and  coastwise  export  of  ice  from  Boston  reached 
its  maximum,  viz.,  142,463  tons 

The  Calcutta  trade  of  Boston  reached  its  highest 
development  in  the  years  1856-59.  Of  122  ships  loaded 
for  the  United  States  at  Calcutta  in  1857,  carrying 
189,267  tons,  valued  at  $17,000,000,  75  per  cent  came 
to  Boston,  and  earned  freight  that  was  estimated  at 
$2,000,000.  In  the  four  years  noted  the  average  annual 
number  of  arrivals  was  79,  with  an  average  tonnage  of 
121,271.  The  greatest  number  of  arrivals  in  this  trade 
was  96  ships  in  1857.  In  1859,  New  York  began  to  gain 
upon  Boston,  but  it  was  not  till  1867  that  the  importa- 
tions to  New  York  actually  exceeded  those  to  Boston. 
Before  the  Civil  War,  75  per  cent  of  the  Calcutta  goods 
imported  at  Boston  were  shipped  again  coastwise,  thus 
affording  a  second  freight  to  ship  owners. 

During  the  Colonial  and  Provincial  periods  commerce 
with  the  West  Indies  bulked  large  in  the  trade  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Boston.  Thus,  in  1676,  Randolph  character- 
ized Boston  as  the  "Mart  town  of  the  West  Indies."  In 
1709,  Massachusetts  had  120  ships  trading  with  those 


136  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

islands,  or  48  per  cent  of  all  its  ships.  In  1741,  New 
England's  commerce  was  estimated  at  £200,000,  equally 
divided  between  Old  England  and  the  West  Indies. 
In  1773,  of  998  entries  and  clearances  at  Boston,  326,  or 
32.7  per  cent,  were  in  the  West  India  trade,  against  97, 
or  9.7,  with  Great  Britain.  Although  intercourse  with 
the  British  West  Indies  was  much  hampered  by  the 
restrictive  policy  of  Great  Britain  from  1783  to  1849, 
still  considerable  trade  was  carried  on  between  American 
ports  and  those  of  the  non-British  islands.  Exports  from 
Boston  to  the  British  and  French  West  Indies  in  1790 
amounted  to  2.078  and  3.285  million  dollars,  respectively, 
against  6.889  millions'  worth  sent  to  the  United  Kingdom. 
Of  392  clearances  at  Boston  in  1793,  one  hundred  and 
nineteen  were  to  the  West  Indies  against  11  to  British 
home  ports. 

Throughout  the  nineteenth  century' Boston  maintained 
a  considerable  trade  with  the  West  Indies,  but  relatively 
it  was  and  is  now  of  less  consequence  than  in  the  third 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  British  restrictions 
upon  it  proved  a  potent  factor  in  precipitating  the 
Revolution. 

On  the  basis  of  values,  Boston's  trade  with  the  West 
Indies  was  9.8  per  cent  of  its  total  trade  in  1880,  and 
6.8  per  cent  in  1915,  as  compared  with  its  proportionate 
trade  with  Great  Britain,  viz.,  69.5  in  1880,  and  46.6  in 
1915. 

In  1790,  of  542,962  tons  entered  in  the  overseas  trade 
from  all  foreign  countries,  Europe  furnished  44.3  per  cent 
and  the  West  Indies  49.5.  Of  the  European  tonnage, 
viz.,  240,485,  47.1  per  cent,  were  owned  in  the  United 
States,  52.5  in  foreign  countries,  and  43.2  in  the  United 
Kingdom.     Of  the  West  India  tonnage,  viz.,  268,735,  62.3 


BIRTHPLACE    OF     BENJAMIN     FRANKLIN,     17     MILK    STREET,    WITH 
INSERT    OF    BENJAMIN     FRANKLIN     AT    UPPER     RIGHT. 


Shipping  at  Boston,  1790. 


137 


per  cent  were  owned  in  the  United  States,  37.7  abroad, 
and  34.6  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

In  1790,  the  aggregate  tonnage  of  entries  into  ports  of 
the  United  States  was  766,091,  of  which  two-thirds 
belonged  to  the  United  States,  and  less  than  one-third 
to  the  United  Kingdom,  and  197,368  tons  were  entered 
at  Massachusetts  ports  (Boston  and  Salem),  or  25.8  per 
cent  of  the  tonnage  entered  in  the  whole  country.  Massa- 
chusetts entries  of  American  shipping,  viz.,  177,022, 
included  99,123  tons  in  oversea  trade,  53,073  in  the 
coasting  trade,  and  24,826  in  fishing  vessels.  In  other 
words,  the  combined  entries  at  Boston  and  Salem  amounted 
to  35.2  per  cent  of  the  tonnage  entered  in  the  country,  in 
United  States  vessels,  (27.3  per  cent  of  the  oversea  trade 
entered,  46.9  of  those  in  the  coasting  trade,  and  94.6  of 
fishing  vessels  entered). 

The  following  statement  shows  the  rank  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts ports,  in  comparison  with  their  principal  rivals: 


Tonnage  Belonging  in  1790  to 

Poets. 

All  Nations. 

United  States. 

Foreign 
Countries. 

197,368 
109,918 
92,114 

177,022 
56,997 

48,274 

20,346 

52,270 

43,840 

Of  course,  in  1790,  there  were  no  steamships  represented 
in  the  tonnage  entered  in  Massachusetts.  In  1890,  of 
2,315  craft  entered  at  Boston,  with  a  total  tonnage  of 
1,449,870,  1,525  were  sailing  ships,  with  a  tonnage 
of  302,353,  or  20.9  per  cent;  against  790  steamers,  with  a 
total  tonnage  of  1,147,517,  or  79.1  per  cent.     In  1790, 


138  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

of  the  total  entries  of  tonnage,  89.7  per  cent  were  in 
American  vessels,  and  10.3  in  foreign.  In  1890,  of 
1,449,870  tons,  only  13.6  per  cent  were  in  American 
against  86.4  in  foreign  bottoms.  The  corresponding  per 
cents  for  1915  were  11.3  and  88.7. 

Foreign  arrivals,  in  the  year  1790,  at  the  port  of  Boston 
were  455,  while,  in  addition,  the  vessels  employed  in  the 
coasting  trade  were  said  to  number  1,200  sail.  In  the 
fiscal  year  1790-91,  duties  collected  in  the  ports  of  Massa- 
chusetts amounted  to  $420,707,  about  one-seventh  of  the 
total  for  the  ports  of  the  United  States.  The  exports  of 
Massachusetts  in  the  fiscal  year  1792  were  valued  at 
$3,389,922.  Foreign  entries  in  1793  were  376,  and 
foreign  clearances  292. 

Pemberton's  "  Description  of  Boston/ '  in  1794,  credits 
the  town  with  eighty  wharves  and  quays.  Pemberton  says 
(November,  1794): 

"The  harbour  of  Boston  is  at  this  date  crowded  with 
vessels.  Eighty-four  sail  have  been  counted  lying  at 
two  of  the  wharves  only.  It  is  reckoned  that  not  less  than 
four  hundred  and  fifty  sail  .  .  .  are  now  in  this  port." 

The  most  famous  of  American  naval  frigates,  "The 
Constitution,"  was  built  by  Edmund  Hart  at  his  wharf 
in  Boston,  the  site  of  which  is  covered  by  the  present 
Constitution  Wharf.  The  Constitution,  of  1,567  tons, 
was  launched  October  21,  1797.  She  carried  52  guns. 
She  served  against  the  French  in  1799,  and  did  brilliant 
service  in  the  War  of  1812,  in  which  she  gained  the  name 
of  "Old  Ironsides."  Her  e-fitted  hulk  is  now  kept  as  a 
memorial  at  the  Charlestown  Navy  Yard,  which  was 
established  in  1800.  The  sails  of  the  Constitution 
were  made  in  the  Granary  of  Boston,  and  the  sail-cloth  of 


Teade  of  Boston,  1793-1815.  139 

which  they  were  made  was  woven  in  a  factory  at  the 
corner  of  Tremont  and  Boylston  streets.  The  product 
of  this  factory  is  said  to  have  amounted  to  between 
eighty  and  ninety  thousand  yards  per  annum,  and  to 
have  competed  successfully  with  the  duck  brought  from 
abroad. 

The  almost  continuous  warfare  between  Great  Britain 
and  France,  in  the  period  1793-1815,  wrought  havoc  on 
the  commerce  of  Boston,  and  more  especially  on  its  trade 
with  Europe.  Again  and  again  the  Town  Meeting 
expressed  its  displeasure  with  the  measures  taken  by  the 
Federal  government  to  meet  the  selfish  and  contemptuous 
policy  of  both  France  and  England  towards  the  infant 
empire  of  the  United  States.  Witness:  (1)  its  denuncia- 
tion, in  1795,  of  the  Jay  treaty  with  England,  and  appeal 
to  the  President  not  to  ratify  it;  (2)  its  appeal  in  1808, 
for  the  repeal  of  the  Embargo  Act;  and  (3)  its  circular 
letter  of  June  15,  1812,  to  the  towns  of  Massachusetts, 
containing  a  long  series  of  spirited  resolves  in  favor  of 
impartial  neutrality.  These  resolves  were  adopted  less 
than  a  week  before  the  declaration  of  war  against  Eng- 
land. In  their  preamble  the  Bostonian  views  of  the  situa- 
tion were  tersely  stated  as  follows: 

"The  Decrees  of  France;  the  Edicts  of  England,  and 
the  Acts  of  Congress,  though  intended  to  counteract 
each  other,  constitute  a  triple  league  for  the  annihilation 
of  American  commerce,  and  our  Government,  as  if  weary 
of  waiting  for  a  lingering  dissolution,  hastens  to  des- 
patch the  sufferer,  by  the  finishing  stroke  of  a  British 
War." 

In  1807,  the  shipping  of  Boston  amounted  to  310,309 
tons,  or  more  than  one  third  of  the  mercantile  marine 
of  the  United  States.     In  1810,  the  foreign  and  coast- 


140  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

wise  tonnage  owned  in  Massachusetts  was  495,203,  or 
more  than  the  combined  tonnage  of  the  States  of  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania.  In  1814,  Boston's  exports  were 
valued  at  only  $118,285,  involving  a  decrease  of  $5,733,- 
736,  or  97.9  per  cent,  from  1811.  In  1816,  the  year  after 
peace  was  made,  the  exports  of  Boston  showed  a  gain  of 
$7,925,692,  or  6,700.5  per  cent,  from  1814.  In  the  calendar 
year  1915,  the  exports  of  Boston  were  valued  at  $119,- 
498,929  against  $5,244,398  in  1815. 

During  the  War  of  1812,  there  was  a  revival  of  priva- 
teering, and  Boston  participated  actively  in  it.  A 
recent  writer  places  the  value  of  British  vessels  destroyed 
by  American  privateers,  during  the  war,  at  $9,400,000, 
or  $40,000  less  than  the  losses  inflicted  by  the  British 
on  American  shipping.  Boston  is  credited  with  31 
privateers,  and  Salem  with  40,  against  58  for  Baltimore, 
and  55  for  New  York. 

The  early  revival  of  the  East  India  trade,  after  the  War 
of  1812,  caused  a  demand  for  faster  ships.  Profiting  by  the 
speedy  quality  of  the  Baltimore  clippers,  the  northern 
ship-yards  evolved  a  new  sort  of  ship,  characterized  as 
"cod-headed  and  mackerel-tailed."  In  1821,  one  of  them, 
the  "  George"  of  Salem,  astonished  the  world  by  coming 
home  from  Calcutta  in  95  days.  She  went  out  the  next 
season  in  89.  She  was  known  as  the  "Salem  Frigate,"  and 
made  21  Indian  voyages,  none  taking  more  than  100  days. 
Her  type  was  superseded  by  the  clipper  ship,  a  Yankee 
invention,  that  revolutionized  the  carrying  trade  of  the 
world.  The  "Rainbow,"  of  750  tons,  designed  by  John 
Griffiths  of  New  York,  was  the  pioneer  of  this  class.  She 
was  launched  in  that  city  in  January,  1845,  sailed  in 
February,  and  arrived  home  again  in  September  follow- 
ing, to  the  confusion  of  the  critics  of  her  "  crazy  model/ ' 


Boston's  Clipper  Ships.  141 

She  was  widest  amidships,  whence  she  tapered  fore  and 
aft.  She  had  a  knife-like  concave  prow,  and  a  sharp, 
narrow  stern.  The  "Sea  Witch,"  Griffith's  second  clipper, 
on  her  maiden  trip,  in  1846-47,  ran  from  Sandy  Hook  to 
Hong  Kong  in  104  days,  and  returned  in  89.  Later  she 
established  the  record  for  that  run  of  77  days.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1851,  she  reached  San  Francisco  from  New  York  in 
97  days.  But  seven  months  later  her  achievement  was 
eclipsed  by  the  "Flying  Cloud,"  of  1,782  tons,  which  made 
the  same  run  in  89  days,  a  record  that  still  stands.  The 
Flying  Cloud  was  constructed  at  the  East  Boston  yard 
of  Donald  McKay.  In  the  course  of  two  years  McKay 
turned  out  6  record  breaking  clippers.  His  "Lightning," 
of  2,083  tons,  in  1853,  on  her  maiden  trip  to  Liverpool  from 
Boston,  made  a  day's  run  of  436  miles,  that  has  never 
been  surpassed  by  a  sailing-ship.  Not  till  1889  did  an 
ocean-going  steamship  do  better.  Another  ship  from  the 
McKay  yard,  the  "James  Baines,"  built  for  a  Liverpool 
firm,  covered  the  distance  between  Boston  Light  and  Rock 
Light,  Liverpool,  in  12  days  6  hours.  In  1854,  the 
Baines  made  the  run  from  Liverpool  to  Melbourne  in  63 
days,  and  returned  in  69  days.  No  sailing  ship  has  ever 
done  better  than  that  in  circling  the  globe.  Naturally 
Boston  clipper  ships  found  a  ready  sale  among  shipping 
houses  both  in  Europe  and  America.  In  1854,  a  Liver- 
pool firm  ordered  4  clipper  ships  of  an  average  tonnage  of 
2,409,  of  Donald  McKay,  for  the  Australian  trade. 

At  Donald  McKay's  ship-yard  at  East  Boston  some  52 
ships  (ranging  in  tonnage  from  700  in  1847,  to  4,555  in 
1853),  aggregating  75,590  tons,  were  launched  in  the  period 
1845-69.  In  the  period  1848-57,  McKay  built  42  ships, 
aggregating  63,190  tons.  Among  them  were  eight  of  over 
2,000  tons.     The  activity  of  the  four  East  Boston  yards 


142  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

culminated  in  1854,  when  39  vessels,  amounting  to  52,157 
tons,  were  built;  7  of  them,  of  14,719  tons  burden,  were 
launched  from  the  McKay  yard.  The  largest  of  all 
clipper  ships,  McKay's  "  Great  Republic,"  was  325  feet 
long  and  of  4,555  tons  burden.  She  was  launched  October 
4,  1853.  Three  months  later  she  was  burned  to  the 
water's  edge  in  New  York.  When  rebuilt,  she  had  3  decks 
instead  of  4,  and  was  reduced  in  tonnage  to  3,337  tons. 
She  served  as  a  transport  in  the  Crimean  and  Civil  wars. 
She  made  the  run  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  in  92 
days.  She  was  sold  to  a  Liverpool  Company  in  1865.  In 
1872  she  had  to  be  abandoned  at  sea. 

After  1856,  ship  building  in  Boston  declined  and  has 
never  regained  its  former  eminence.  Steam  ships  dis- 
placed clipper  ships,  and  the  United  States,  owing  to  its 
unreadiness  to  compete  in  the  construction  of  iron 
steamers,  lost  control  of  the  carrying  trade.  Since  1860, 
the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  has  been  forced 
to  rely  on  foreign  bottoms,  mostly  British.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  in  1857  an  iron  steamship  of  1,250  tons 
burden  was  built  for  the  Pasha  of  Egypt  at  one  of  the 
East  Boston  yards. 

Although  many  of  the  crack  clippers  built  in  Boston 
were  acquired  by  British  or  other  European  owners,  their 
records  for  speed  stiU  stand  to  the  credit  of  their  original 
American  skippers  and  crews,  whose  seamanship  was  the 
despair  of  their  rivals  during  the  heyday  of  the  clippers. 
Seldom  did  an  American  clipper,  or  a  British  clipper  built 
on  American  lines,  outsail  an  American  clipper  handled  by 
an  American  crew.  In  a  sense,  the  American  clippers, 
with  then  sharp  lines  and  enormous  spread  of  canvas, 
were  huge  yachts,  and  in  yacht  racing,  then  as  now, 
American  skippers  and  sailors  were  sefcond  to  none. 


Diversified  Interests  of  Boston.  143 

As  late  as  1830,  the  business  interests  of  Boston  were 
chiefly  commercial  and  its  manufactures  were  mainly 
devoted  to  the  building  and  rigging  of  ships.  In  the 
decade  1830-40,  the  city's  interests  became  more  diversi- 
fied, as  did  those  of  New  England,  owing  to  the 
introduction  of  steam  as  a  motive  power  on  land  and  sea 
and  the  rapid  growth  of  mills  and  factories.  By  1835, 
thanks  to  the  enterprise  of  its  merchants,  Boston  had 
railroad  connection  with  Lowell,  Providence  and  Worces- 
ter; and  in  1841,  when  the  line  between  Worcester  and 
Albany  was  opened,  Boston  gained  railroad  connection 
of  a  sort  with  the  West.  Boston  capitalists  were  already 
heavily  interested  in  the  development  of  New  England 
industries.  So  Boston,  in  response  to  changing  conditions 
and  new  opportunities  for  the  investment  of  capital, 
became  the  financial  center,  or  counting  house,  of  the 
transportation  and  manufacturing,  as  well  as  of  the 
commercial,  activities  of  New  England. 

In  1840,  Boston  ranked  as  the  fourth  city  of  the  United 
States  in  respect  to  population.  It  was  still  the  second 
port,  having  241  houses  with  a  capital  of  $11,676,000 
engaged  in  the  foreign  trade.  The  capital  of  its  25  banks 
amounted  to  $17,300,000;  and  its  manufactures  repre- 
sented an  investment  of  $2,770,250.  In  1840,  the  popu- 
lation of  Boston  was  upwards  of  93,000,  showing  an 
increase  of  50,000,  or  123.3  per  cent,  from  1820.  Foreign 
arrivals,  in  1840,  were:  1,953  at  New  York,  538  at 
Philadelphia,  and  1,628  at  Boston,  showing  relative 
increases  of  29.3,  29.6  and  153.6,  respectively,  from  1830. 
The  tonnage  entered  at  Boston  from  foreign  ports  in  1841 
was  286,315,  an  increase  of  156,353  tons,  or  120.3  per 
cent,  from  1821.  In  1841,  foreign  imports  amounted  to 
,911,958,  and  exports  to  $9,424,186. 


144  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

The  year  1840  was  signalized  by  the  establishment  of 
regular  steam  communication  between  Boston  and  Liver- 
pool, via  Halifax,  the  British  government  having  granted 
a  heavy  subsidy  to  the  Cunard  Company  to  carry  the 
mails  between  Liverpool,  Halifax  and  Boston.  The  first 
Cunarder,  the  "  Unicorn,"  arrived  at  Boston,  June  2, 1840, 
and  docked  at  a  wharf  which  had  been  specially  built  at 
East  Boston  by  the  merchants  of  Boston,  to  be  leased  to 
the  company  at  a  nominal  rental  for  twenty  years. 

The  choice  of  Boston  as  the  terminus  for  the  Cunarders 
was  in  recognition  of  the  nearness  of  the  port  to  the 
maritime  British  provinces,  and  the  superiority  of  its 
harbor  and  wharf  accommodations.  Speaking  broadly, 
the  port  of  Boston  has  ranked  second  only  to  New  York 
in  the  value  of  its  foreign  commerce  most  of  the  time 
since  1840.  In  the  period  1890-1915,  Boston  ranked 
second  in  eighteen  years,  third  in  4  years  and  fourth  in 
4  years.  It  fell  to  third  place  in  1903,  and  was  again 
third  in  1915.  In  respect  to  value  of  imports,  it  has  been 
second  in  every  year  of  the  period.  The  volume  and 
importance  of  the  trade  between  Boston  and  Great 
Britain  was  greatly  stimulated  by  the  establishment  of 
steam  communication  with  Liverpool  in  1840.  Boston's 
trade  with  the  United  Kingdom  has  become  the  largest 
branch  of  its  total  commerce.  In  1880,  of  Boston's 
total  foreign  trade,  69.5  per  cent  were  with  Great  Britain; 
the  corresponding  per  cent  in  1915  was  46.6. 

The  early  Cunarders  were  essentially  mail  and  passenger 
boats,  although  they  served  too  for  the  carriage  of  high- 
class  freight.  Several  attempts  were  made  to  establish 
regular  packet  lines  between  Boston  and  England  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1844,  a 
notably  successful  effort  in  this  direction  was  made  by 
Enoch  Train,  a  Boston  merchant,  who  established  a  line 


Culmination  of  Shipbuilding  at  Boston.      145 

of  sailing  packets  between  Boston  and  Liverpool  to  carry 
coarse  and  heavy  freight.  It  was  Train  who  induced 
Donald  McKay,  of  Newburyport,  to  remove  to  East 
Boston,  where  he  began  building  packets  for  the  Train  line 
in  1845.  In  the  period  1845-53,  McKay  built  10  ships, 
aggregating  13,069  tons,  for  this  line.  One  of  McKay's 
most  famous  clippers,  the  Flying  Cloud,  was  built  in 
1851  for  the  Train  line,  although  it  was  under  the  flag  of  a 
New  York  house  that  she  became  famous  in  the  Cali- 
fornia trade.  The  Warren  line  of  steamers  is  the  twentieth 
century  successor  of  the  old  Train  line  of  sailing  packets 
that  did  a  large  business  under  various  names  during  the 
last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Oversea  traffic  in  Boston  was  active,  varied,  and  on  the 
whole  lucrative,  in  the  decade  of  1850-60.  Yet  the 
decade  stands  out  as  the  period  in  which  the  foreign 
commerce  of  the  port  began  to  wane.  Its  prosperity 
under  the  old  order  of  things  culminated  in  1856-58. 
In  1855,  the  tonnage  of  shipping  owned  in  Boston  reached 
its  maximum,  viz.,  541,644;  and  the  total  tonnage  repre- 
sented by  entries  and  clearances  in  the  foreign  trade  was 
1,395,949,  or  66,271  tons  more  than  it  was  in  1865.  In 
both  years  the  proportionate  tonnage  was  52  and  48  per 
cent,  respectively,  for  American  and  foreign  bottoms. 

In  1855,  when  there  were  built  in  and  about  Boston 
44  vessels,  with  a  tonnage  amounting  to  45,988,  and  22 
more  of  27,877  tons  were  on  the  stocks  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  shipbuilding  reached  its  high-water  mark.  Boston 
clearances  for  California  and  Australia  fell  from  149  in 
1853  to  47  in  1857.  In  1857,  Boston  was  still  pre-eminent 
in  the  Russia  trade;  but  it  had  lost  control  of  the  China 
trade,  and  was  destined  soon  to  lose  its  hold  on  the 
Calcutta  trade. 

In  1851,  the  merchant  marine  of  the  United  States  held 


146  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

a  commanding  position  in  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world 
in  respect  to  efficiency  and  extent.  It  did  so  because 
American  shipyards  were  able  to  turn  out  larger  and  faster 
wooden  ships  at  lower  cost  than  the  British  shipyards 
could.  As  regards  tonnage,  the  British  Empire  surpassed 
the  United  States  by  16.5  per  cent;  but  American  mer- 
chantmen commanded  higher  freight  rates,  lower  rates  of 
insurance,  and  were  more  profitable  to  their  owners.  In 
the  period  1850-59,  334,563  tons  of  American  shipping 
were  sold  to  foreigners,  equal  to  one-tenth  of  the  whole 
output  of  the  yards  during  the  period. 

After  the  repeal  of  the  British  Navigation  Act  in  1849, 
British  merchants  were  free  to  buy  ships  anywhere; 
but  American  merchants,  down  to  1914,  were  forbidden 
by  our  Navigation  Acts  to  do  so.  Ultimately,  a  goodly 
portion  of  the  clipper  ships,  which  had  contributed  so 
much  to  American  prosperity  in  the  period  1851-56,  passed 
into  the  possession  of  foreigners,  and  American  merchants 
could  neither  buy  nor  build  shipping  of  the  new  type  to 
advantage.  While  the  Civil  War  was  waging,  1862-65, 
the  registered  tonnage  of  the  United  States,  owing  to 
sales  to  aliens,  decreased  by  774,652  tons. 

In  the  year  ending  June,  1915,  under  authority  of  the 
Ship  Registry  Act  of  August  18,  1914,  American  registers 
were  issued  to  148  vessels,  of  523,361  tons,  valued  at 
33.4  millions  of  dollars.  Over  six-tenths  of  that  tonnage 
were  transferred  from  the  British  and  barely  twenty-eight 
per  cent  from  the  German  flag.  So,  in  1914-15,  the 
foreign  shipping  transferred  to  the  American  flag  exceeded 
by  only  297  tons  the  American  shipping  sold  to  foreigners 
in  the  years  1863  and  1864. 

The  decline  of  the  merchant  marine  of  the  United 
States,   following   the   panic   year    1857,   reflected   both 


WASHINGTON     STREET,    FROM     WATER    TO     MILK     STREET,    I860. 


The  five  brick  buildings  to  the  left  of  the  Old  South  Church  composed  the  first  brick 
business  block  erected  in  Boston.  The  first  and  second  ones  mark  the  site  of  Governor 
John  Winthrop's  home,  in  which  he  died. 


Decline  of  American  Shipping.    .  147 

world-wide  and  local  conditions.  During  the  first  half 
of  the  decade  1850-59,  there  was  abnormal  activity  in  the 
construction  of  wooden  clipper  ships,  owing  to  the  rush 
of  gold  seekers  to  California  and  Australia.  At  the  same 
time  the  increase  in  the  number  and  efficiency  of  iron 
steamships,  mostly  British,  began  to  undermine  the 
ascendency  of  the  merchant  marine  of  the  United  States. 
The  steam  tonnage  of  the  United  States  in  1856,  amounting 
to  89,715,  was  scarcely  one-sixth  of  that  of  the  British 
Empire,  while  the  gain  from  1851  was  only  44  per  cent  for 
the  United  States,  against  104  per  cent  for  the  British 
Empire.  Sales  of  American  tonnage  to  aliens  in  1860 
were  74  per  cent  less  than  they  had  been  in  1855. 

Besides  the  changes  effected  by  improvements  in  naval 
architecture,  since  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  radical 
changes  have  been  made  in  the  methods  of  conducting 
overseas  trade  throughout  the  world  since  the  later  sixties, 
owing  to  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  the  develop- 
ment of  submarine  telegraphy.  Merchants  have  ceased  to 
be  merchant  adventurers;  middlemen  and  brokers  have 
multiplied  and  supercargoes  have  become  extinct. 

It  is  clear  that  the  decline  in  the  ascendency  of  the 
United  States  in  the  carrying  trade  was  well  advanced 
before  it  was  accelerated  by  the  Civil  War.  After  the 
Civil  War  the  demands  upon  American  capital  and 
enterprise  for  developing  the  resources  of  the  interior  of 
the  country  were  so  inviting  and  compelling  that  the 
nation  was  apparently  content  to  leave  the  handling  of  its 
foreign  trade  to  the  owners  of  foreign  ships.  Thus,  on 
the  basis  of  value,  while  in  1855  the  per  cent  of  the  foreign 
commerce  of  the  United  States  carried  in  American 
vessels  was  76,  in  1865  it  was  only  28;  it  fell  further  to  13 
in  1890,  and  in  1915  was  only  14  per  cent. 


148 


Boston  and  Its  Story. 


The  following  statement  affords  a  comparison  of  the 
composition  of  the  merchant  marine  of  the  world  and  the 
United  States,  in  respect  to  construction  and  motive 
power,  in  1915: 


Kind  of  Ship, 

Pekcentage  Distribution  of 
Tonnage  in: 

The  World. 

United  States    ■ 
Registered. 

Wooden 

3.9 
96.1 

7.2 
92.8 

23  3 

Metal 

76.7 

Sailing 

22.6 

Steam 

77.4 

In  the  foregoing  statement,  barges,  canal  boats  and  gas- 
driven  craft  are  excluded  from  the  registered  tonnage  of 
the  United  States.  Nevertheless,  the  larger  per  cents  of 
wooden  and  sailing  tonnage  of  the  United  States  are 
striking.  This  is  probably  attributable  to  the  preponder- 
ance of  coasting  trade. 

The  documented  merchant  marine  of  the  United  States, 
which  includes  enrolled  and  licensed,  as  well  as  registered 
vessels,  has  greatly  changed  in  character  since  1855,  as  is 
shown  in  the  following  statement : 

DOCUMENTED  TONNAGE  —  UNITED  STATES. 


Per  Cent  bt  Trade. 

Year. 

Total. 

Foreign. 

Coasting. 

Whale 
Fishery. 

Cod  and 
Mackerel 
Fishery. 

1915 

8,389,429 
5,096,782 
5,212,001 

22.20 
29.79 
45.06 

77.32 
66.35 
48.80 

0.11 
1.65 
3.58 

0.37 

1865 

2.21 

1855 

2.56 

Increase  of  Business  in  Boston  Since  1865.  149 

The  following  table  affords  a  comparative  view  of  the 
increase  in  population,  assessed  valuation  and  certain 
outstanding  business  interests  of  Boston  in  the  half 
century  since  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 


1915. 


^Increase 
from  1865. 


Pee  Cent  of  Increase. 


1865-1915.     1890-1915. 


Population  * 

Valuation 

Bank  clearings 

Commerce : 

Total 

Imports 

Exports 

Tonnage 

Manufactures  (1914): 

Value  of  products . . 


745,439 

$1,573,164 

8,256.936 

260.129 

152.653 

107.476 

4.124 

284.802 


553,121 

$1,201,271 

5,915.047 

214.160 

128.112 

86.047 

2.794 

193.852 


286.12 
323.02 

252.58 

487.84 
525.89 
449.11 
210.11 

213.14 


66.22 
91.37 
60.93 

94.01 

142.78 

50.94 

66.38 

35.02 


; Excepting  population,  000's  are  omitted  in  the  table. 


Although  the  value  of  the  products  of  the  manu- 
facturing establishments  of  Boston  in  1914  (the  last  year 
for  which  the  figures  are  available)  exceeded  the  value 
of  its  commerce  in  1915  by  24.7  millions  of  dollars  it 
is  noteworthy  that  the  absolute  and  relative  increases 
in  the  value  of  imports  and  exports  were  considerably 
greater  than  those  in  the  value  of  manufactured  products 
in  the  last  twenty-five  years  as  well  as  in  the  last  fifty 


150  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

years.  Moreover,  the  largest  per  cents  of  increase,  for 
both  periods  in  the  table,  are  those  relating  to  foreign 
commerce.  Manifestly,  notwithstanding  the  enhanced 
importance  of  the  financial  and  industrial  interests  of 
Boston  since  the  decline  of  the  American  merchant 
marine  set  in,  its  commercial  interests  still  warrant  its 
ancient  designation  as  a  "Trading  Town." 

In  1865  the  value  of  Boston's  foreign  trade  amounted 
to  1.89  per  cent  of  its  bank  clearings.  The  corresponding 
per  cent  for  1915  was  3.15.  As  regards  the  value  of 
products  of  manufactures,  it  was  3.45  per  cent  of  bank 
clearings  in  1915  against  3.88  in  1865.  In  1915  Boston's 
foreign  trade  amounted  in  value  to  91.34  per  cent  of  the 
value  of  manufactured  products,  against  48.66  in  1865. 

As  a  manufacturing  center  Boston  is  distinguished  by 
the  wide  range  of  its  industries.  Ranked  by  value  of 
products  (expressed  in  millions  of  dollars),  the  leading 
industries  of  Boston,  in  1914,  were:  (1)  Printing  and 
publishing,  newspapers  and  periodicals,  17.915  millions; 
(2)  confectionery,  14.796;  (3)  boot  and  shoe  cut  stock 
and  findings,  13.909;  (4)  men's  clothing,  13.729;  (5) 
boots  and  shoes,  13.253;  (6)  printing  and  publishing, 
books,  music,  etc.,  12.680;  (7)  foundry  and  machine 
shop  products,  12.350;  (8)  bread  and  bakery  products, 
11.413;  (9)  women's  clothing,  9.609;  and  (10)  malt 
liquors,  8.836.  Far  down  the  fist  of  minor  industries 
"  shipbuilding,  including  boats,"  appears  with  an  output 
valued  at  $325,300. 

Boston  ranks  higher  in  finance  and  commerce  than  in 
manufactures.  Thus,  in  1909,  it  ranked  eighth  among 
the  manufacturing  cities  of  the  United  States;  third  in 
bank  clearings  and  fourth  in  total  foreign  trade,  and  was 
second  in  value  of  imports.  At  the  close  of  the  fiscal 
year  1915-16,  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank  of  Boston  ranked 
third,  or  next  to  that  of  Chicago,  as  regards  resources  and 
earnings. 

In  1912,  just  before  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank  was 
established,  the  twenty  national  banks  of  Boston  were 
credited  with  a  " banking  power"  of  271.5  millions  of 


Rank  of  Boston  in  Finance  and  Commerce.  151 

dollars,  or  $383.83  per  capita.  In  this  respect  Boston 
was  first  among  the  financial  centers  of  the  United  States. 

The  banking  system  of  Boston  began  in  1784,  when 
the  first  of  its  incorporated  banks,  viz.,  the  Massachusetts 
Bank,  was  established.  The  Provident  Institution  for 
Savings  of  Boston  is  the  oldest  incorporated  savings 
bank  in  America.  Of  the  twenty-three  savings  banks  in 
Boston,  in  1915,  with  upwards  of  318.5  millions  worth 
of  assets,  and  297.3  millions  dollars  due  depositors,  the 
Provident  Institution  ranked  first,  with  56.3  millions 
of  assets,  and  52.6  millions  due  depositors,  or  $504.94 
per  account  on  the  average.  The  Boston  Clearing 
House  Association  was  established  in  1856,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  twenty-nine  banks. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  1914-15  the 
imports  and  exports  of  all  ports  in  Massachusetts  have 
been  so  returned  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  separate 
the  figures  for  the  old  port  of  "Boston  and  Charlestown" 
from  those  for  Massachusetts.  In  1912,  99.54  per  cent 
of  the  foreign  trade  of  all  ports  in  the  State  were  credited 
to  Boston.  For  the  sake  of  simplicity  we  may  still 
speak  of  the  commerce  of  Boston,  although  the  com- 
merce credited  to  Boston  in  the  foregoing  table  includes 
that  of  a  few  other  ports  whose  customs  business  has 
now  to  be  handled  in  Boston.  Boston,  then,  in  1915, 
ranked  third  among  the  seaports  of  the  United  States 
in  total  trade;  second  in  imports  and  fifth  in  exports; 
being  credited  with  5.85  per  cent  of  the  foreign  trade  of 
the  United  States;  9.12  per  cent  of  its  imports,  and  3.88 
per  cent  of  its  exports.  Judged  by  the  combined  value 
of  imports  and  exports,  Boston,  in  1915,  ranked  nine- 
teenth among  the  ports  of  the  world,  i.  e.,  between 
Montreal  and  Shanghai.  In  imports,  Boston's  rank  was 
sixteenth,  although  it  was  forty-ninth  in  total  tonnage. 

Among  the  ports  of  the  United  States  Boston  is  pre- 
eminent by  reason  of  the  high  ratio  of  imports  to  its 
total  trade.  It  was  58.68  in  1915  against  37.68  for  the 
whole  country.  The  corresponding  figures  for  other 
leading    ports   were    44.59    for    Philadelphia,    43.82   for 


152  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

New  York,  27.58  for  New  Orleans,  15.92  for  Baltimore 
and  4.22  for  Galveston. 

Excess  of  imports  over  exports  at  Boston  is  not  a  new 
phenomenon,  although  in  the  United  States,  as  a  rule, 
exports  have  exceeded  imports  in  value  in  thirty-eight 
years  of  the  period  1866-1915.  At  Boston,  imports 
showed  an  excess  in  twenty-eight  years  and  exports  in 
twenty-two  years  —  of  the  twenty-two,  sixteen  fell  in 
the  period  1889-1904. 

In  the  last  fifty  years  the  ratio  of  imports  to  total 
trade  was  52.43  at  Boston,  as  compared  with  43.40  for 
the  rest  of  the  country.  For  the  period  1890-1915, 
imports  at  Boston  amounted  to  2,422.3  millions  of  dollars, 
equal  to  8.48  per  cent  of  the  United  States;  and  its  exports 
were  2,383.0  millions,  or  6.09  per  cent  of  the  United 
States.  The  per  cent  of  imports  to  total  trade  at  Boston 
for  the  twenty-five  years  was  50.41. 

The  statement  on  page  153  shows  the  standing  of 
Boston  among  the  seven  leading  ports  of  the  country 
in  1915.     Values  are  given  in  millions  of  dollars. 

In  1915  the  port  of  Boston  ranked  fourth  in  respect  to 
tonnage  entered,  eighth  in  tonnage  cleared,  and  sixth  in 
total  tonnage,  which  amounted  to  4.41  per  cent  of  the 
United  States.  Vessels  entered  numbered  1,488,  with  a 
total  tonnage  of  2,463,651,  as  against  1,161  cleared,  having 
a  total  tonnage  of  1,659,802.  Of  the  aggregate  tonnage, 
11.29  per  cent  was  classed  as  American,  and  88.71  as 
foreign;  96.52  per  cent  were  credited  to  steam  vessels 
and  3.48  to  sailing  ships. 

Only  14  vessels  entered  in  ballast,  the  residue,  or  99.06 
per  cent  brought  cargo;  whereas  350  vessels,  or  30.15 
per  cent,  cleared  in  ballast.  Of  the  tonnage  entered, 
99.14  per   cent  represented   cargo  laden  vessels.     This 


Boston's  Standing  Among  Ports  of  the  Country.  153 

was  a  higher  per  cent  by  8.47  points  than  that  of  New 
York.  Boston  was,  therefore,  first  among  United  States 
ports  in  the  number  and  tonnage  of  vessels  bringing  cargo. 
Only  69.85  per  cent  of  the  vessels  cleared  were  not  in 
ballast.  No  other  of  the  seven  principal  ports  had  so 
high  a  per  cent  of  vessels  cleared  in  ballast  as  that  of 
Boston,   viz.,   30.15.     Galveston   came  next  with   20.9. 


Principal  Ports  in  1915. 

Total  Trade. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

Port. 

6 

> 

"513    03 
P    03    03 

03-^-2 

03* 

d 

> 

o 

dig 

03-tf  .£ 

Ph 

03° 

> 

•£rC  m 
d  03  S 

03-^^ 

Ph 

1.  New  York 

2.  New  Orleans . . 

3.  Boston 

4.  Galveston .... 

5.  Philadelphia.  . 

6.  San  Francisco, 

7.  Baltimore.  .  .  . 

2,124. 6 
289.1 
260.1 
240.5 
163.6 
157.6 
156.9 

47.82 
6.51 
5.86 
5.41 
3.68 
3.55 
3.53 

931.0 
79.7 

152.7 
10.1 
72.9 
76.1 
24.9 

55.61 
4.76 
9.12 
0.61 
4.36 
4.54 
1.49 

1,193.6 
209.3 
107.5 
230.4 
90.7 
81.5 
131.9 

43.12 

7.57 
3.88 
8.32 
3.27 
2.94 
4.77 

Viewed  from  whatever  angle,  it  would  appear  that  the 
port  of  Boston  is  distinctively  an  importing  center.  This 
is  not  strange  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  mills  and 
factories  of  New  England  obtain  their  raw  material  largely 
from  abroad,  and  that  the  natural  channel  into  New 
England  for  foreign  supplies  and  commodities  is  through 
Boston  Harbor. 


154  Boston  and  Its  Stoey. 

As  regards  volume  of  trans- Atlantic  passenger  business, 
Boston  is  second  only  to  New  York.  In  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1914,  arrivals  and  departures  at  Boston  numbered 
138,096,  or  5.06  per  cent  of  the  United  States.  Arrivals 
amounted  to  96,157  (aliens,  81,341;  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  14,816),  and  departures  were  41,939  (aliens, 
25,838;  citizens  of  the  United  States,  16,101).  The 
annual  average  number  of  passengers  arrived  from  foreign 
countries  at  Boston,  in  the  twelve  years  1904-15,  was 
71,486,  of  whom  51,151  were  immigrants.  The  greatest 
number  of  immigrant  arrivals  in  any  year  was  70,164  in 
1907.  In  1914  they  numbered  69,365,  but  only  15,983 
in  1915.  Philadelphia  ranks  next  to  Boston  in  the  num- 
ber of  immigrants  arrived,  with  an  average  of  36,640  for 
the  twelve  years.  A  goodly  number  of  immigrants 
destined  for  New  England  enter  the  country  at  New  York, 
but  Boston,  as  a  rule,  is  the  port  of  entrance  into  the 
promised  land  for  most  new  comers  into  New  England; 
as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  so  is  it  now. 

Sentimental  interest  attaches  in  large  measure  to  the 
action  of  the  General  Court  in  1635,  when  it  was  ordered 
that  a  beacon  be  set  and  a  ward  kept  on  Sentry  Hill 
"to  warn  the  Country  of  any  danger."  In  that  action, 
coupled  with  the  erection  of  batteries  within  the  town  and 
on  Castle  Island,  and  the  establishment  of  an  organized 
militia,  the  "anointed  eye"  may  discern  a  foregleam  of 
the  spirit  of  '76.  These  measures  of  the  General  Court, 
in  1635,  expressed  the  resolve  of  the  imperiled  Colony 
to  resist  the  avowed  designs  of  Laud  and  others  of  the 
King's  minions  in  England  against  the  chartered  liberties 
of  New  England. 

Providentially,  the  danger  was  averted;  but,  broadly 
speaking,  the  erection  of  a  potential  torch  on  the  summit 


VIEW    OF     STATE     HOUSE,     1916. 


Beacon  Hill  and  Beacon  Isle.  155 

of  Beacon  Hill  was  a  portentous  event.  Thereby,  the 
Beacon  became  a  landmark  in  both  the  physical  and  the 
historical  landscape.  Thenceforward,  till  Independency 
was  achieved,  the  fires  of  liberty  were  kept  alight. 

A  century  and  a  quarter  have  elapsed  since  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  Beacon;  but  for  more  than  a  century 
the  present  State  House,  topping  Beacon  Hill,  has  served 
as  an  impressive  land-mark  to  wayfarers  approaching  the 
city,  either  by  sea  or  land.  To  the  distant  observer  the 
gilded  dome  of  the  State  House,  and  the  still  loftier  tower 
of  the  new  Custom  House,  serve  to  mark  the  head  of  the 
Boston  ship  channel. 

For  the  benefit  of  mariners  the  General  Court  erected, 
in  1715-16,  the  first  lighthouse  in  America,  on  or  near 
the  Beacon  Isle,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Boston  ship  channel. 
The  lamps  of  Boston  Light  were  first  lit  on  September  14, 
1716.  In  1739  the  light-keeper  was  appointed  "the  pilot 
of  Boston  Harbor,"  and  the  Province  established  a  scale 
of  pilotage  fees.  In  1789  the  United  States  took  over 
Boston  Light.  At  present  there  are  eight  lighthouses 
in  or  near  Boston  Harbor  maintained  by  the  Federal 
Government,  whose  lights  are  visible  from  11  to  17  miles. 

The  founders  of  Boston  builded  better  than  they  knew, 
when,  for  the  sake  of  securing  good  drinking  water,  they 
located  their  dwellings  under  the  lee  of  Trimountaine  on 
the  shores  of  the  coves  at  the  head  of  the  deep  water  ship 
channel,  within  "the  Lake"  formed  by  the  islands  of  the 
inner  harbor;  and  then  proceeded  to  lay  out  their  market 
place  at  a  point  about  which  the  business  activities  of 
the  Town,  the  Commonwealth  and  New  England  have 
centered  ever  since.  No  city  planning  board  could  have 
done  better,  indeed  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  such, 
in  our  own  day,  has  done  nearly  so  well. 


156  Boston  and  Its  Stoky. 

The  history  of  Boston  is  singularly  rich  in  elements 
of  interest  to  the  student  of  the  evolution  of  political 
institutions.  Whether  one  considers  the  development  of 
Boston  as  a  tract  of  land,  or  as  a  body  corporate  and 
politic,  the  wonder  grows  that  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the 
world  should  have  developed  out  of  so  small  and  simple  a 
germ.  The  outstanding  practical  problem  for  the  first 
settlers  of  Boston  was  the  development  of  their  realty 
within  the  neck  of  Shawmut. 

By  the  fall  of  1634,  when  the  first  extant  records  of  the 
town  were  set  down  by  Winthrop,  the  town  of  Boston  had 
developed  the  three  essential  elements  of  the  town  polity, 
viz.,  a  town  meeting,  town  orders  or  by-laws,  and  a  com- 
mittee of  ten  (selectmen)  charged  with  the  management 
of  the  town's  affairs  during  the  intervals  between  the 
general  meetings  of  the  inhabitants. 

Already  considerable  portions  of  the  "plain  neck"  had 
been  transformed  into  homesteads,  with  garden  plots, 
planting  fields  enclosed  within  common  fences,  and  tracts 
of  unenclosed  waste  reserved  for  common  pasture.  More- 
over, to  meet  Boston's  growing  needs  for  fuel  and  timber, 
arable  and  pasture,  considerable  tracts  of  outlying  terri- 
tory had  been  granted  by  the  General  Court.  A  market 
place  had  been  laid  out,  as  had  streets  connecting  the  three 
nuclear  groups  of  habitations  with  one  another  and  with 
Roxbury  on  the  main  land. 

The  administrative  needs  of  the  town  had  become' so 
considerable  and  pressing  that  the  Town  Meeting,  finding 
itself  no  longer  equal  to  their  adequate  control,  had  begun 
to  empower  certain  of  its  members  to  act  for  the  Town 
and  report  their  doings  from  time  to  time  to  the  Town. 
So  vigorous  and  adaptable  was  the  simple  polity  of  the 
town  that  as  Boston  grew  in  importance  as  the  capital  of 


The  Town  op  Boston,  1821.  157 

the  Colony,  and  the  principal  maritime  town  in  English 
America,  it  was  able  to  create  new  organs  to  subserve  new 
functions. 

In  the  last  stage  of  its  development  as  a  town,  just 
before  the  charter  of  incorporation  was  secured  in  1821, 
the  Town  of  Boston,  both  in  its  physical  features  and  in 
its  governmental  machinery,  presented  wide  and  striking 
contrasts  to  any  other  town,  anywhere.  On  the  one  hand, 
it  differed  from  other  towns  in  the  number  and  character 
of  its  public  and  private  buildings,  wharves,  shipyards, 
and  factories;  while  its  more  complex  and  varied  interests, 
as  a  subdivision  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  were 
reflected  in  a  larger  and  more  expert  body  of  public 
officials  as  well  as  by  a  larger  and  more  comprehensive 
body  of  by-laws. 

In  their  General  Meetings  the  Primary  Towns  passed 
penal  orders  (by-laws)  without  let  or  hindrance.  In  1636, 
the  right  of  the  Freemen  "to  make  such  orders  as  may 
concern  the  well  ordering  of  their  own  towns"  was  ex- 
pressly sanctioned  by  an  order  of  the  General  Court. 
The  Bodye  of  Liberties,  in  1641,  confirmed  that  right. 
In  1692-93,  a  comprehensive  act  was  passed  relating  to  the 
powers  and  privileges  of  towns  throughout  the  Province. 
It  contained  a  provision  requiring  the  approval,  by  a 
court  of  Quarter  Sessions,  of  all  "town  orders  or  by-laws"; 
but  the  provision  was  repealed  in  1696.  Early  in  the 
eighteenth  century  the  General  Court  must  have  revived 
the  requirement  for  a  town  to  submit  its  by-laws  to  the 
justices  of  a  county  court,  inasmuch  as  in  1710  and  there- 
after Boston's  by-laws  were  customarily  submitted  to  the 
Quarter  Sessions  of  Suffolk  for  approval  and  confirmation. 
While  the  course  of  the  statutes  relating  to  by-laws  in  the 
period  1696-1785  cannot  be  precisely  stated,  it  is  certain 


158  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

that  since  1785  the  towns  of  Massachusetts  have  been 
subject  to  superior  authority  in  the  matter  of  passing  by- 
laws. As  late  as  1903,  the  statutes  provided  that  "  Before 
a  by-law  takes  effect,  it  shall  be  approved  by  the  Superior 
Court,"  etc.  Since  1904,  the  by-laws  of  all  towns  have 
had  to  be  submitted  to  the  Attorney-General  of  the  Com- 
monwealth for  his  approval. 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1780,  the 
General  Court  has  shown  a  marked  tendency  to  encroach 
on  the  ancient  autonomy  of  the  Massachusetts  towns. 
But  the  cities,  and  especially  Boston,  have  suffered  greater 
losses  in  respect  to  home  rule'  than  the  towns  have. 
Article  II.  of  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  empower- 
ing the  General  Court  "to  constitute  municipal  or  city 
governments,"  was  adopted  in  1821.  It  still  contains  the 
provision  that  "all  by-laws  made  by  such  municipal  or 
city  government,  shall  be  subject  at  all  times  to  be 
annulled  by  the  General  Court." 

In  political  organisms,  as  well  as  in  the  animal  kingdom, 
increase  in  size,  i.  e.,  growth,  necessitates  what  is  techni- 
cally termed  differentiation  of  parts  and  specialization  of 
functions,  or  else  retarded  development  will  result.  The 
working  of  this  law  is  traceable  in  the  formation  of  new 
organs  to  meet  new  needs  in  the  political  organism  of 
Boston,  both  as  a  whole,  and  also  in  the  evolution  of  specific 
parts  of  the  organism,  e.  g.,  the  town  meeting,  the  select- 
men, and  the  school  committee.  Thus,  the  selectmen 
constituted  a  special  executive  organ,  fashioned  by  the 
Town  Meeting  out  of  a  few  of  its  own  members  to  order 
the  prudential  affairs  of  the  town.  Accordingly,  in  the 
earlier  days,  the  Selectmen  sometimes  acted  as  allotters 
of  land,  as  surveyors  of  highways,  as  assessors  of  rates  and 
taxes,  and  as  an  inchoate  school  committee.     They  also 


The  Board  of  Selectmen.  159 

had  power  to  admit  new  inhabitants  as  well  as  to  appoint 
minor  officials,  such  as  cow  keepers  and  fold  keepers. 
When  the  town  treasurer  and  recorder  emerged  first,  in 
1640  and  1645,  respectively,  they  were  chosen  by  the 
Selectmen. 

The  Selectmen  chosen  by  the  Town  Meeting  were 
usually  chosen  to  serve  for  six  months  down  to  1645; 
thereafter  they  were  regularly  chosen  for  one  year.  It 
was  not  unusual  for  the  Town  to  choose  Selectmen  from 
among  the  most  able  and  eminent  of  its  citizens.  Thus, 
John  Winthrop,  who  was  a  selectman  in  1634,  served 
continuously  in  that  capacity  in  the  period  1639-46. 
During  six  of  those  years  he  was  Governor  or  Deputy 
Governor.  Richard  Bellingham,  another  of  the  Colonial 
governors,  was  a  selectman  of  Boston  at  least  five  times. 
Of  later  governors  who  had  served  as  selectmen,  John 
Leverett,  Thomas  Hutchinson,  and  John  Hancock  may 
be  mentioned.  John  Hancock  was  a  selectman  throughout 
the  period  1765-76.  Indeed,  when  he  presided  over  the 
Continental  Congress  in  July,  1776,  Hancock  was  still  a 
selectman  of  Boston. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Town  never  chose  the  chair- 
man of  the  Selectmen,  who  were  free  to  organize  their 
board  as  they  thought  fit.  It  is  clear  from  their  records 
that  the  board  frequently  chose  sub-committees  for 
special  purposes,  and  that  the  Town  Clerk  kept  their 
records.  In  their  latter  days  the  chairman  had  a  salary, 
e.  g.,  in  1821,  that  officer  was  paid  SI, 200.  That  any 
other  member  of  the  board  received  a  salary  does  not 
appear.  It  is  remarkable  how  meagre  is  the  mention  of 
the  Chairman  of  the  Selectmen,  either  in  their  own 
records  or  those  of  the  Town.  It  was  voted  by  the  Town, 
in  1684,  that  in  all  cases  coming  before  the  Selectmen, 


160  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

"when  there  is  an  equal  vote,  the  president  for  that  time" 
should  have  a  casting  vote.  Casual  mention  of  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Selectmen  occurs  in  the  records  of  an  election 
of  Representatives  in  1776  and  occasionally  elsewhere. 

Public  office  in  the  early  days  was  considered  a  public 
trust.  In  1647,  the  General  Court  passed  an  act  pro- 
viding a  penalty  of  20  shillings  for  every  refusal  to  serve 
a  town  as  constable,  selectman,  or  highway  surveyor. 
The  Boston  records  abound  in  instances  in  which  men 
chosen  constable  paid  fines  or  were  excused.  In  Boston, 
as  provided  by  statute,  the  fine  for  declining  a  con- 
stableship  was  £10.  In  other  towns,  the  corresponding 
fine  was  £5. 

As  early  as  1637,  the  Town  voted  to  bear  the  charges 
for  the  meetings  of  the  Selectmen.  Accordingly,  we  find 
the  board  ordering  the  constable  to  pay  £2  18s.,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1641,  "for  diet  for  the  Townsmen."  The  first 
occurrence  of  the  term  "Selectmen"  was  on  March  28, 
1642,  approving  the  payment  of  "18s.  for  Dyet,  beere, 
and  fire  for  the  Selectmen,"  among  whose  names  one 
finds  those  of  the  then  Governor  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Colony. 

Boston's  system  of  salaries  and  pay  rolls  had  very 
humble  beginnings.  Thus,  in  1635,  the  Town  voted  that 
the  keeper  of  the  dry  cattle  should  be  paid  5  shillings  a 
head  for  his  services.  In  1642,  the  Selectmen  ordered: 
(1)  that  the  Constable  pay  "5  bushells  of  Indian  Corne" 
to  one  of  the  field  keepers  for  the  last  year;  and  (2)  that 
the  keepers  of  the  milch  herd,  on  The  Common,  this 
summer,  should  "have  a  bushell  of  Indian  Corne  for  each 
cowe,"  and  one-half  the  forfeitures  for  unyoked  swine 
found  at  large.  Four  years  later,  all  clerks  of  the  market, 
by  an  order  of  the  General   Court,  were  allowed  one- 


The  Pay  op  Town  Officers.  161 

third  of  all  forfeitures  collected  by  them,  the  other  two- 
thirds  to  go  to  the  poor. 

In  1700,  the  Town  instructed  the  Selectmen  to  have  a 
piece  of  plate,  worth  £20,  made  as  a  testimonial  for 
James  Taylor,  who  had  served  as  Town  Treasurer  for 
8  years  and  never  charged  more  than  £5  per  annum,  and 
to  pay  him  £10  for  the  previous  year.  A  year  later,  the 
Treasurer's  salary  was  fixed  at  £15.  In  1712,  the  salary 
of  the  Treasurer,  who  was  also  Town  Clerk,  was  still  £15. 
In  the  same  year,  2  Collectors  of  Taxes  were  allowed  3d. 
in  the  £  for  collecting  the  rates.  In  1770,  the  Treasurer 
was  allowed  £100  for  salary  and  office  expenses;  and  the 
compensation  of  4  collectors  was  fixed  at  from  4d.  to 
12d.  in  the  £,  according  to  the  promptness  of  their 
collections.  In  1780,  owing  to  the  inflation  of  the 
currency,  the  Treasurer  was  allowed  £220  for  salary  and 
expenses. 

In  1812,  the  offices  of  Treasurer  and  Collector  of  Taxes 
were  united  in  one  man,  whose  salary  was  $1,500;  he  was 
also  allowed  $1,500  wherewith  to  pay  3  deputies  and  a 
clerk.  The  deputies  had  certain  perquisites  too,  includ- 
ing " Poundage  of  4  per  cent"  on  collections.  In  1813, 
the  sum  of  $2,500  was  voted  the  Treasurer  and  Collector 
for  his  own  salary  and  the  pay  of  such  deputies  and  clerks 
as  the  Committee  of  Finance  should  find  to  be  necessary. 
At  this  time  there  were  3  Assessors  at  an  annual  salary  of 
$816,  when  the  Town  Clerk's  salary  was  $1,000. 

In  1821  salaries  ranged  as  follows : 

Chairman  of  Selectmen $1,200  Police  Officer $900 

Principal  Assessors  (3) 1,000  Clerk  of  the  Market 800 

Assistant  Assessors  (24) 100  Secretary  to  Firewards 200 

Treasurer 2,500  Messenger  to  Firewards 300 

Town  Clerk 1,000  Messenger  to  Selectmen 365 

Judge  of  Municipal  Court 750 


162  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

The  range  of  salaries  of  heads  of  certain  principal 
departments  in  1915  is  shown  in  the  following  statement: 

Mayor $10,000        City  Clerk $5,000 

Superintendent  of  Schools 10,000        City  Collector 5,000 

Corporation  Counsel 9,000  Chairman,    Park   and   Recrea- 

Public  Works  Commissioner. ..      9,000            tion  Department 5,000 

Chairman,  Health  Department,     7,500        Fire  Commissioner 5,000 

City  Auditor 6,000        Chairman  of  Assessors 4,500 

Librarian,  Public  Library 6,000  Chairman,      Street      Commis- 

Police  Commissioner 6,000            sioners 4,500 

Chief  Justice,  Municipal  Court,    5,500        Superintendent  of  Market 3,000 

City  Treasurer 5,000 

Of  the  various  boards  derived  directly  from  the  Select- 
men of  early  days,  the  School  Committee  is  the  only  one 
that  has  been  continuously  chosen  by  the  people  from  its 
origin  till  the  present  time.  Therefore  it  is  unique  among 
the  departments  of  Boston. 

Originally,  the  " Inhabitants  of  Boston"  in  Town 
Meeting  elected  teachers,  fixed  their  salaries,  voted  supplies 
and  decided  on  the  erection  and  location  of  school  houses. 
Then  it  became  customary  to  commit  such  matters  to 
the  Selectmen.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  there 
began  a  series  of  tentative  steps  towards  the  evolution 
of  the  School  Committee.  Thus,  in  1709,  the  Town 
chose  a  special  committee  to  consider  the  affairs  of  the 
Free  Grammar  School  (Latin  School).  The  Committee 
reported  that  the  master's  salary  should  be  advanced  to 
£100,  and  that  he  ought  to  have  the  assistance  of  an 
usher,  in  which  recommendations  they  said  they  had 
the  "Concurrent  Opinion,  and  Advice  of  ye  Revrd.  Min- 
isters." Furthermore,  the  Committee  recommended  that 
the  Town  appoint  " inspectors  of  the  School"  to  consist 
of  "a  Certain  Number  of  Gentlemen,  of  Liberal  Educa- 
tion, Together  with  Some  of  ye  Revd.  Ministers."    Accord- 


Beginnings  of  the  School  Committee.         163 

ingly,  five  men,  all  laymen,  were  appointed  to  serve  as 
" Inspectors  of  the  Grammar  School,"  for  one  year. 

Apparently,  the  inspectors  were  not  continued  in  1712; 
for  in  that  year  the  Town  chose  a  committee  to  inspect 
the  Free  Writing  Schools  and  report  on  the  advisability 
of  establishing  a  writing  school  at  the  North  End.  In 
1714,  the  Committee  recommended,  and  it  was  voted, 
"That  it  be  left  with  the  Selectmen  to  purchase  a  piece 
of  Land  Sutable  to  Sett  a  School  House  on  there."  At 
the  March  meeting,  in  1718,  the  Town  voted  "That  the 
Revd.  Ministers,  together  with  the  Selectmen,  are  desired 
to  be  the  Inspectors  of  the  Grammar  Schools  for  the  year 
ensuing."  Somewhat  later,  it  was  usual  for  the  Town 
Meeting  annually  to  desire  the  Selectmen  to  invite  the 
ministers  and  other  notables  to  aid  them  in  inspecting 
the  public  schools  and  in  reporting  to  the  Town  on  their 
condition.  In  the  period  1758-88,  the  records  abound 
in  reports  of  such  committees,  who  usually  lubricated 
their  business  by  a  dinner  at  the  Town's  expense.  The 
visitation  usually  occurred  in  the  first  week  of  July,  and 
probably  marked  the  close  of  the  school  year. 

In  1770,  the  Committee  of  Visitation  included  (besides 
the  Selectmen,  the  Representatives  of  the  Town,  and  the 
Overseers  of  the  Poor)  no  less  than  42  prominent  gentle- 
men, including  James  Otis,  Esq.,  Mr.  John  Adams, 
Commodore  Hood,  and  5  clergymen.  The  Committee 
found  909  scholars  in  5  schools,  viz.,  202  in  the  North 
and  South  Grammar  Schools,  and  707  in  3  writing 
schools,  "all  in  very  good  order."  On  July  6,  1774,  "the 
Selectmen  proceeded,  with  the  Gentlemen  invited,  to  a 
visitation  of  the  publick  Schools;  but  upon  account  of 
the  present  distress,  the  Dinner  usual  on  such  days  was 


164  Boston  and  Its  Stoey. 

laid  aside."     In  the  year  ending  March,  1787,  £45  14s. 
were  expended  on  the  visitation  of  the  schools. 

On  September  23,  1789,  the  Town  adopted  a  "New 
System  of  Education,"  and  on  October  20,  following, 
chose  12  men  in  addition  to  the  9  Selectmen  to  carry 
the  system  into  operation.  Since  that  date  Boston  has 
always  had  an  elective  School  Committee.  In  1812, 
the  town  appropriated  $200  towards  the  maintenance  of  a 
school  for  African  children,  under  the  School  Committee. 

In  1818,  when  the  Town  voted  to  provide  schools  for 
children  between  4  and  7  years  of  age,  a  new  committee 
was  instituted.  It  was  known,  till  its  abolition  in  1854, 
as  the  Primary  School  Committee.  It  originally  consisted 
of  36  members,  3  from  each  ward.  It  was  chosen  annually 
by  the  General  School  Committee.  The  year  before  it 
was  abolished  and  the  Primary  Schools  turned  over  to  the 
General  School  Committee,  the  Primary  School  Com- 
mittee numbered  196  members. 

From  1822  till  1834  school  affairs  were  managed  by 
the  Mayor  and  Board  of  Aldermen,  together  with  the 
School  Committee,  consisting  of  12  members  chosen 
annually,  or  one  from  each  ward.  The  Aldermen  were 
eliminated  by  act  of  Legislature  in  1835,  but  the  Mayor 
was  ex-officio  President  of  the  board  till  1885.  The 
new  charter  of  1854  provided  for  a  School  Committee 
consisting  of  the  Mayor,  the  President  of  the  Common 
Council  and  6  members  from  each  ward. 

By  1874,  owing  to  increase  in  the  number  of  wards 
by  annexation,  the  School  Committee  had  increased  to 
116  in  number.  The  board  was  reduced  .to  25,  including 
the  Mayor,  in  1876;  and  again  in  1906  to  5  members. 
Now,  as  ever  since  1854,  the  regular  term  of  members  of 
the  School  Committee  is  three  years.  The  board  has 
elected  its  Chairman  since  1885. 


Public  Schools  in  1821  and  1915. 


165 


Since  1875:  (1)  members  of  the  School  Committee 
have  been  elected  at  large,  instead  of  by  wards;  (2) 
the  administrative  functions  of  the  board  have  been 
much  reduced  and  simplified;  and  (3)  the  duties  and 
responsibility  of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools,  as  well 
as  of  his  expert  assistants,  have  been  greatly  augmented 
—  both  in  kind  and  degree.  Women  have  been  eligible 
to  membership  in  the  School  Committee  since  1875. 
Since  1901  the  construction,  furnishing  and  maintenance 
of  school  buildings  have  been  in  charge  of  the  School 
House  Commissioners,  three  in  number,  who  are  appointed 
for  the  term  of  three  years  by  the  Mayor,  from  time  to 
time.  Since  1900  the  School  Department  has  been  priv- 
ileged above  any  other  in  Boston,  in  that,  by  statute, 
a  fixed  portion  of  the  tax  rate  has  been  set  aside  for  the 
public  schools.  That  portion  increased  from  $2.71  per 
$1,000  of  valuation  in  1900  to  $4.07  in  1915.  In  1915, 
19  per  cent  of  the  expenditures  from  taxes  and  general 
income  were  for  the  public  schools. 

The  following  tabular  statements  may  serve  to  indi- 
cate the  expansion  of  the  School  Department  since  Boston 
became  a  city: 

Number  of  Schools,  Teachers  and  Pupils. 


1820-21. 

1914-15. 

Schools. 

Teachers. 

Pupils. 

Schools. 

Teachers. 

Pupils. 

Latin  and  High 

1 
29 

6 

38 

207 
3,827 

16 
*208 

542 
*  2,339 

17,373 
*  102,270 

Totals 

30 

44 

4,034 

224 

2,881 

119,643 

*  Includes  Kindergartens:  24,218  pupils;  about 900  teachers  in  night  and  special 
schools  are  excluded. 


166 


Boston  and  Its  Stoky. 


School  Expenditures. 


1820-21. 

1914-15, 

Maintenance 

$36,932 
8,113 

$6,065,656 

New  buildings 

1,071,802 

Totals 

$45,045 

$7,137,458 

Scale  op  Salaries  of  Teachers. 


1820-21. 

1914-15. 

Latin  and  High: 

$2,000 

1,000 

600 

600 
240 

$3,780  to  $4,068 

2,484  to    3,204 

Junior  Masters 

1,478  to    2,916 

2,820  to    3,420 
600  to    1,224 

Elementary: 

A  Superintendent  of  Schools  was  first  chosen  about 
1857.  The  Superintendent  of  Schools  now  receives 
$10,000  per  annum. 

Boston  as  a  political  entity  started  on  apparently  even 
terms  with  its  contemporaries  in  1630.  Like  them,  it 
was  a  self-organized  group  of  home  seekers  bent  on 
making  a  living  for  man  and  beast  by  utilizing  its  com- 
munal lands  for  homesteads,  planting  fields  and  pastures, 
after  the  manner  initiated  by  Charlestown  the  year 
before.  Its  organization  was  simple  and  thoroughly 
democratic.     Its  local  affairs  were  discussed  and  ordered 


Boston  in  the  Colonial  Peeiod.  167 

by  its  primary  assembly  (town  meeting),  composed  of 
householders  and  allottees,  each  of  whom  had  an  equal 
voice  in  the  conduct  of  affairs  and  the  choice  of  officers, 
e.  g.,  herdsmen,  cow-keepers,  overseers  of  fields  and  fences 
and  men  chosen  for  the  town's  occasions  (selectmen). 
But  there  were  two  circumstances  that  made  for  the 
advantage  of  Boston  as  compared  with  other  towns,  and 
enabled  it  to  distance  them  in  numbers,  wealth  and 
influence.  They  were  these:  (1)  The  Governor  and 
several  of  the  principal  Assistants  lived  in  Boston  and 
held  their  courts  (assemblies)  there;  and  (2)  its  unrivaled 
situation  at  the  head  of  the  Bay,  close  to  the  deep  water 
channel,  and  at  the  gateway  to  the  interior.  Possessed 
of  such  advantages  at  the  outset,  it  was  inevitable  that 
Boston  should  attain  leadership  in  the  political  and  eco- 
nomic development  of  the  Commonwealth  prior  to  the 
Restoration  in  1660.  Of  no  other  town  could  Johnson 
have  said  in  1650,  as  he  did  of  Boston,  that  "in  thrice 
seven  years"  it  is  "become  like  to  a  small  City.  .  .  . 
whose  continuall  inlargement  presages  some  sumptuous 
City." 

Comparison  of  the  records  of  Boston  and  her  sister 
towns  during  the  Colonial  period  discloses  a  fuller  and 
richer  civic  life  that  was  reflected  in  the  deliberations 
of  the  Boston  Town  Meeting,  and  in  its  instructions 
to  its  Deputies  in  the  General  Court,  as  well  as  in  the 
increase  in  the  kind  and  number  of  officers,  chosen  by 
the  Town  or  appointed  by  the  Selectmen,  to  give  effect 
to  the  Town  by-laws  and  the  orders  of  the  General 
Court. 

As  bearing  on  the  point  last  mentioned,  the  results  of 
the  Town  elections  in  1637  and  1681  (the  year  in  which 
Boston  was  first  accorded  three  Deputies  instead  of  two) 


168  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

are  significant.  At  the  March  meeting  in  1637,  eleven 
men  were  "  Chosen  for  these  next  six  monethes  to  over- 
see and  sett  order  for  the  townes  occasions  as  formerly 
hath  beene."  The  " chosen  men"  shortly  afterwards 
appointed  four  "  surveyors  for  highwayes";  seven  men 
"to  look  unto  field  fences  and  gates"  in  the  four  plant- 
ing fields,  and  a  "fold  keeper"  to  take  charge  of  tres- 
passing beasts.  At  a  later  meeting  in  1637,  the  Town 
chose  a  constable  for  a  year's  term. 

In  March,  1681,  the  Town  elected:  a  Moderator;  7 
Selectmen;  10  Constables,  8  for  Boston  and  1  each  for 
Muddy  River  and  Rumny  Marsh ;  5  Clerks  of  the  Market ; 
7  Surveyors  of  Highways;  i  e.,4  for  Boston,  2  for  Muddy 
River,  and  1  for  Rumny  Marsh;  3  Sealers  of  Leather; 
2  Water  Bailiffs;  2  Packers  of  Flesh  and  Fish;  1  Meas- 
urer of  Salt;  3  Scavengers;  3  Criers;  and  8  Hog  Reeves. 
On  the  same  day,  the  Selectmen  chose  a  Recorder  (Town 
Clerk)  and  a  Treasurer;  besides  minor  officers  to'  the 
number  of  30,  e.  g.,  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Measures, 
Cullers  of  Pipe  Staves,  Corders  of  Wood,  Overseers  of 
Wood  Corders,  Measurers  of  Corn,  and  Measurers  of 
Boards. 

The  Town  was  already  divided  into  8  companies,  i.  e., 
districts  each  supplying  100  soldiers.  These  were  fore- 
runners of  the  eight  wards  established  first  in  1712. 
Late  in  April,  1681,  the  Selectmen  appointed  3  "tythinge 
men"  for  each  of  the  8  companies,  and  4  others,  i.  e.,  2 
each  for  Muddy  River  and  Rumny  Marsh.  In  1681,  the 
public  buildings  of  Boston  included  the  Town  House  in 
the  market  place,  the  Almshouse  originally  built  in  the 
Common  in  1660,  and  several  school  houses. 

Doyle,  in  his  "English  Colonies  in  America,"  empha- 
sizes the  fact  that  "The  Town  meeting  of  Boston  became 


Town  Officers  in  the  Provincial  Period.      169 

a  power  in  the  political  life  of  the  whole  colony/'  and 
suggests  that  the  meeting  "reached  maturity"  in  1728, 
when  the  Town  voted  unanimously  against  settling  a 
salary  upon  the  Royal  Governor,  and  instructed  the 
Representatives  for  Boston  to  oppose  any  action  looking 
to  that  end.  Governor  Burnet  was  highly  incensed 
against  Boston,  and  sought  to  punish  her  by  removing 
the  General  Court  to  Salem,  besides  reporting  the  matter 
in  vituperative  terms  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  in  England. 
Thenceforward,  Boston  was  generally  a  thorn  in  the 
side  of  the  King's  representative  in  Massachusetts. 

The  results  of  the  Town  election,  in  March,  1728, 
bear  witness  to  certain  advances  in  the  development  of 
the  government  of  Boston  since  1681.  Thus,  in  1728,  in 
addition  to  officers  chosen  in  1681,  7  Assessors  and  7 
Overseers  of  the  Poor  were  chosen  in  the  Town  Meeting. 
Overseers  of  the  Poor  were  first  chosen  in  1691,  and 
Assessors  in  1694.  Collectors  of  Taxes  were  chosen  in 
1733  and  thereafter;  but  in  1728,  taxes  were  still  col- 
lected, as  in  the  early  days,  by  the  constables,  although 
in  the  period  1712-14,  collectors  had  been  chosen  as 
such. 

In  1728,  the  Town  voted  to  erect  a  Granary  in  The 
Common,  where  the  Bridewell,  for  insane  and  disorderly 
persons,  had  been  placed  already.  The  Keayne  Town 
House,  built  of  wood  in  1657-58,  had  been  replaced  by  a 
brick  structure  in  1711,  in  which  the  offices  of  the  Town, 
County  and  Province  were  located.  Not  till  1733  was 
the  public  market  of  the  middle  of  the  town  removed  to 
Dock  Square,  in  whose  neighborhood  it  still  remains. 
In  1738,  a  Workhouse  was  added  to  the  public  institu- 
tions in  The  Common. 

Town  elections,   for  the  first  half  of  the   eighteenth 


170  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

century  as  in  the  seventeenth  century,  were  generally 
held  early  in  March,  which  was  the  first  month  according 
to  the  prevalent  calendar.  Even  now,  the  "  March 
meeting,"  signalized  by  annual  reports  and  the  election 
of  officers  for  the  ensuing  year,  is  the  principal  town 
meeting  of  the  year  throughout  Massachusetts.  March 
originally  marked  the  beginning  of  the  calendar  as  well  as 
the  official  year.  Even  after  England  adopted  the  Gre- 
gorian or  new  style  calendar,  in  1752  (since  when  the 
numbered  months,  September-December,  inclusive,  have 
belied  their  names) — the  March  meeting  in  Boston  was 
chiefly  devoted  to  the  election  of  town  officers.  It  should 
be  remembered  that  separation  of  municipal  and  state 
elections,  which  has  long  obtained  in  Massachusetts, 
appears  to  have  been  originally  instituted,  at  least  as 
regards  Boston,  in  1659,  when  it  was  voted  by  the  Town 
Meeting  that  "the  Selectmen  shall  for  the  future  appoint 
the  times  of  the  meeting  for  the  Freemen,  distinct  from 
the  general  townes  meetings."  The  election  of  Deputies, 
Representatives,  and  after  1780  of  state  officers,  was 
generally  presided  over  by  the  Selectmen;  and  at  least 
in  the  Provincial  period,  and  thereafter,  the  number  of 
votes  cast  were  recorded  in  the  minutes.  But  the  numeri- 
cal results  in  the  election  of  town  officers  were  very  seldom 
recorded. 

The  fiscal  year  in  Boston,  during  most  of  its  existence 
as  a  town,  coincided  with  the  official  year;  but  in  1723- 
1821,  the  annual  elections  at  the  March  meeting  took  so 
much  time  that  "the  consideration  of  money  matters" 
was  usually,  by  formal  vote,  continued  or  deferred  till  the 
May  meeting.  Accordingly,  the  fiscal  year  in  Boston 
began  on  May  1 .  So  it  was  till  1892,  when  February  1  was 
made  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year.    In  very  many  of  the 


The  Last  Town  Election,  1821.  171 

towns  of  Massachusetts  the  fiscal  year  still  begins  or 
closes  in  March,  i.  e.,  in  the  first  month  (old  style). 

After  the  Revolution  the  town  government  of  Boston 
became  still  more  highly  organized.  For  instance,  the 
School  Committee  was  instituted  in  1789,  and  the  Board 
of  Health  in  1799.  During  the  last  twenty-five  years  of 
its  existence  as  a  town,  the  government  of  Boston  bore 
little  resemblance  to  that  of  its  compeers  by  reason  of  the 
variety  of  semi-independent  boards  having  jurisdiction 
in  its.  local  affairs.  But,  notwithstanding  the  growing 
dissatisfaction  with  the  unwieldy  and  archaic  nature  of 
the  governmental  machinery,  the  people  of  Boston  clung  to 
their  town  polity  and  defeated  no  less  than  four  schemes 
to  make  Boston  a  city  in  name,  as  well  as  in  fact,  in  the 
period  1784^1815. 

Finally,  in  1821,  the  people  of  Boston  reluctantly 
decided  to  petition  the  General  Court  for  an  act  of  incor- 
poration. The  precipitating  cause  for  this  decision  is 
found  in  the  unsatisfactory  relations  of  the  Town  to  the 
County  of  Suffolk,  in  which  Boston  was  the  predominant 
partner.  The  County  consisted  of  the  towns  of  Boston 
and  Chelsea.  But  the  County  taxes,  of  which  Boston 
paid  fully  99  per  cent,  were  levied  and  spent  by  the  Court 
of  Sessions,  whose  justices,  being  appointees  of  the  Gover- 
nor, were  wholly  outside  the  control  of  the  Town  Meeting 
of  Boston. 

The  last  election  of  town  officers  of  Boston  was  held 
March  12,  1821,  at  which  2,443  votes  were  cast  for  Select- 
men, in  contrast  with:  (1)  4,399  cast  for  Governor  on 
April  2,  1821,  at  the  election  of  State  officers;  and  (2) 
2,659  —  the  maximal  vote  on  the  fourteen  articles  of 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  which 
were  submitted  to  the  voters  of  Boston  on  April  9,  1821. 


172  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  vote  on  the  adoption  of  the 
City  Charter,  on  March  1,  1822,  totalled  4,672. 

The  last  town  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  officers 
as  follows :  7  Selectmen,  chosen  also  to  serve  as  Surveyors 
of  Highways;  a  Town  Clerk;  a  School  Committee  of 
twelve;  12  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  and  of  the  Workhouse; 
30  Firewards;  20  Surveyors  of  Boards  and  other  Lumber; 
6  Fence-Viewers;  6  Cullers  of  Hoops  and  Staves;  9 
Cullers  of  Dry  Fish;  4  Hogreeves,  Haywards  and  Field 
Drivers;  3  Inspectors  of  Lime;  2  Surveyors  of  Hemp;  2 
Surveyors  of  Wheat;  and  2  Assay  Masters.  The  number 
of  Firewards  had  trebled  since  1711,  when  they  were 
first  instituted. 

Besides  the  officers  chosen  in  the  Town  Meeting,  there 
were:  (1)  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Health,  one  in  and 
for  each  of  the  twelve  wards;  (2)  24  Assistant  Assessors, 
2  in  each  ward.  All  of  them  were  chosen  in  annual  ward 
meetings  presided  over  by  Wardens  —  who  were  elective 
officers.  The  Principal  Assessors  in  addition  were  chosen 
in  convention  by  the  twenty-four  Assistant  Assessors. 
The  Town  Treasurer  was  annually  chosen  by  a  convention 
made  up  of  the  Selectmen,  Overseers  of  the  Poor  and 
Board  of  Health,  who  together  formed  the  standing  Com- 
mittee of  Finance  which  controlled,  in  large  measure,  the 
fiscal  policy  and  affairs  of  the  Town.  Usually  the  con- 
vention chose  the  Treasurer  to  be  Collector  of  Taxes,  too. 

There  was  a  County  Treasurer  (annually  elected  by  the 
voters  of  Suffolk  County).  He  was  responsible  to  the 
Court  of  Sessions,  whose  justices,  in  addition  to  their 
judicial  functions,  levied  the  County  taxes,  controlled 
the  expenditure  of  the  County  income,  and  managed  the 
County  institutions. 

Some  ardent  advocates  of  commission  government  have 


jf^ 


■IP 


OLD     SOUTH     CHURCH,    CORNER    WASHINGTON     AND     MILK    STREETS. 


Boston  in  1821.  173 

declared  that  the  Town  of  Boston,  during  its  later  years, 
when  it  had  upwards  of  40,000  inhabitants,  was  governed 
efficiently  by  the  Board  of  Selectmen,  after  the  manner 
of  a  modern  commission.  But  the  records  disclose  a 
cumbrous  system  of  administration  by  semi-independent 
boards,  and  a  composite  budget,  representing  the  demands 
of  the  State,  the  Court  of  Sessions,  the  Selectmen,  the 
School  Committee,  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  and  the 
Board  of  Health.  The  civic  life  of  Boston  had  become 
so  intricate  and  complex  that  the  simple  organs  of  govern- 
ment that  had  so  well  served  their  purpose  during  the 
Colonial  and  Provincial  periods,  no  longer  sufficed. 
Even  the  man  in  the  street  could  perceive  that. 

So  Boston,  191  years  after  its  foundation,  although  it 
had  developed  into  the  most  populous  and  illustrious 
town  in  the  world,  by  vote  of  the  Town  Meeting  on  October 
22,  1821,  instructed  a  committee  to  "  report  to  the  town, 
at  a  future  Meeting,  a  complete  system  relating  to  the 
administration  of  the  Town  and  County  which  shall 
remedy  the  present  evils."  The  report  of  the  committee 
was  rendered  on  December  10,  when  the  committee  was 
enlarged  and  instructed  "to  report  a  system  of  Municipal 
Government  for  this  town,  with  such  powers,  privileges 
and  immunities,  as  are  contemplated  by  the  amendment 
of  the  Constitution,  authorizing  the  General  Court  to 
constitute  City  governments."  The  scheme  proposed 
was  accepted  by  the  Town  on  January  7,  1822.  The 
charter  petitioned  for  by  the  Town,  in  accordance  with  this 
vote,  was  embodied  in  "An  Act  to  Establish  the  City  of 
Boston,"  which  act,  known  as  the  First  Charter,  was 
accepted  by  the  Town  on  March  4,  1822,  by  a  vote  of 
2,797  yeas  to  1,881  nays.  Thereby  Boston  became  the 
first  city  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  and 


174  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

the  largest  city  in  New  England.  Until  1835,  when 
Salem  was  incorporated,  Boston  was  the  only  city  in 
Massachusetts. 

According  to  the  last  Massachusetts  census,  the  popu- 
lation of  Boston,  on  April  1,  1915,  amounted  to  745,439, 
or  20.18  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the  State. 
On  the  same  date  there  were  34  other  municipalities  in 
Massachusetts  incorporated  as  cities,  with  an  aggregate 
population  of  1,818,195,  or  49.23  per  cent  of  the  population 
of  the  State.  It  may  be  noted,  however,  that  in  1915 
there  were  also  19  towns  of  12,000  inhabitants  or  over 
that  were  eligible  under  the  Constitution  to  apply  to  the 
Legislature  for  a  city  charter.  The  existence  of  so  large 
a  number  of  towns  of  city-size  shows  how  strong  a  pre- 
dilection remains  in  Massachusetts  for  the  form  of  town 
government.  In  1915,  the  population  of  Brookline,  the 
most  populous  and  richest  town  in  the  State,  was  33,490, 
or  12,736  less  than  the  estimated  population  of  Boston 
when  it  was  incorporated  in  1822. 

The  management  of  the  fiscal  affairs  of  Boston  was  ex- 
tremely simple  during  the  Colonial  Period  from  1630-92. 
For  many  years,  rates  were  levied  from  time  to  time,  as 
occasion  arose,  to  defray  current  expenses  or  to  pay  rates 
levied  upon  the  Town  by  the  General  Court. 

The  following  instances  are  typical.  The  first  entry  of 
a  fiscal  nature,  in  the  extant  records  of  Boston,  is  dated 
October  6,  1634,  when  the  Town  deputed  five  men 
together  with  the  constable  "to  make  a  rate  for  the 
levying  of  £40  assessed  upon  the  towne  by  order  of  the 
last  General  Court."  December  28,  1640,  "the  rate  made 
by  the  townesmen,  i.  e.,  the  Selectmen,  amounting  to 
£179,  the  13th  of  the  10th  month,  1640,  for  the  discharge 
of  the  country  levy,  was  delivered  to  Mr.  Henry  Webb, 


Early  Rates  and  Taxes  in  Boston.         175 

Constable  of  Boston."  Again  we  find,  in  the  records  of 
the  Selectmen:  "19;  9;  64.  This  day  A  rate  for  Country 
(Colony)  and  Town  occasions  to  the  value  of  £620;  19s.; 
6d.  was  delivered  to  the  Constables  to  be  levied  according 
to  law." 

An  embryonic  form  of  appropriation  order  emerges  in 
1698,  as  appears  from  the  following  extract  from  the 
records  of  that  year:  "July  11th.  At  a  public  town  meet- 
ing of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  .  .  .  voted  and 
agreed  that  a  rate  of  £800  should  be  raised  by  the  Select- 
men upon  the  inhabitants  of  said  town  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor  and  other  necessary  charges  of  said  town."  At 
the  March  meeting  in  1728,  the  terms  of  the  appropriation 
are  much  more  explicit.  It  was  then:  "  Voted  A  Grant  of 
£4,700  To  be  Raised  on  the  Inhabitants  and  Estates 
within  this  Town,  for  Relief  of  the  Poor,  Defraying  the 
charges  of  the  watch,  paving  and  Other  Necessary  charges 
arising  within  and  for  the  Town,  the  Year  Ensuing." 
In  1735  a  similar  grant  of  £7,800  was  voted  "to  be  raised 
by  a  Tax  on  Polls  and  Estates,"  etc. 

Usually  the  rates  were  assessed  by  the  Selectmen  as 
has  been  stated,  but  a  commissioner  was  sometimes 
chosen  by  the  Town  to  join  with  the  Selectmen  "to  make 
the  Country  rate,"  e.  g.,  in  1651  and  1660.  Later  the 
function  of  such  Commissioner  was  to  join  with  the 
Selectmen  "to  take  a  valuation  of  the  estates  and  number 
of  heads  of  the  inhabitants,"  to  serve  as  a  basis  for 
assessing  the  Country  Tax.  Such  valuations  were  made 
as  early  as  1685  and  frequently  thereafter.  In  1694, 
Assessors  were  first  chosen  instead  of  the  former  commis- 
sioner. Seven  Assessors  were  chosen  by  the  Town  in 
1694;  1696-1707  the  number  changed  from  five  to  nine. 
In  1700  the  Town  voted  "to  have  no  other  Assessors  but 


176  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

the  Selectmen/'  and  similar  votes  were  passed  in  some 
years  of  the  period  1702-10.  Beginning  with  1711,  Asses- 
sors appear  to  have  been  chosen  annually  in  Town  meeting. 

In  1712  the  Town  voted  to  choose  two  collectors  of 
rates,  and  allow  them  three  pence  in  the  pound  as  fees. 
In  1713  and  1714  the  Selectmen  were  authorized  to 
appoint  two  collectors;  but  in  1715  and  thereafter  till 
1733,  the  collection  of  taxes  was  performed  by  the  con- 
stables. From  1733  onward  the  collectors  of  taxes  appear 
to  have  been  chosen  annually  by  the  Town  as  a  matter 
of  course. 

The  Town  had  no  treasurer  till  April,  1641,  when  the 
Selectmen  chose  "a  Treasurer  for  the  town  stock  which 
shall  arise  from  sale  of  lands,  or  by  any  other  ways  than 
by  ordinary  rates,  to  Continue  until  another  be  Chosen 
in  his  place."  July  26,  1641,  the  Selectmen  chose  John 
Oliver,  "  Treasurer  for  the  Town  and  to  keep  the  Town 
book."  Thenceforward  until  1691  the  Town  Treasurer 
seems  to  have  been  appointed  by  the  Selectmen  as  the 
records  contain  frequent  mention  of  such  appointments. 
However,  he  was  chosen  in  Town  Meeting  in  1685,  1686 
and  1687.  It  would  appear  that  after  1691  the  Treasurer 
was  usually  chosen  annually  by  the  Town.  In  the  period 
1802-13,  inclusive,  the  person  chosen  Treasurer  by  the 
Town  was  also  chosen  Collector  of  Taxes.  From  1814 
to  1821,  inclusive,  the  election  of  the  Treasurer  and 
Collector  of  Taxes  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Committee  of 
Finance,  first  constituted  in  1812.  It  consisted  of  the 
Selectmen,  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor  and  the  Board  of 
Health.  In  each  of  the  years  indicated  the  Treasurer 
was  elected  to  serve  as  Collector  also. 

In  1641  two  committees  to  consider  accounts  were 
appointed  by  "the  men  chosen  to  order  the  Towns  occa- 


Auditing  Committee  1641-92.  177 

sions."  The  first,  a  committee  of  three,  were  charged 
"to  take  up  the  accounts  of  Mr.  John  Cogan,"  who 
had  served  as  constable  in  1640.  In  August,  1641,  two 
were  appointed  to  "Rectify  the  Accounts  concerning 
Charge  of  Fencing  in  the  mill  field."  These  entries  of 
1641  appear  to  be  the  first  instances  recorded  of  the 
appointment  of  an  auditing  committee. 

At  the  Town  Meeting  held  March  9,  1685,  on  motion 
of  the  Selectmen,  a  committee  of  three  was  chosen  "to 
examine  the  Accounts  (of  the  Selectmen)  of  all  rates 
made  by  them  and  how  disbursed."  On  April  13,  1685, 
the  committee  reported  on  the  accounts  of  the  Treasurer 
from  April,  1679,  to  July  1,  1684. 

June  24,  1689,  the  Town  voted  that  a  committee  of 
three  "Audit  the  Selectmen's  Accounts  of  the  years 
past."  March  14,  1692,  the  committee  presented  a  report 
to  the  Town,  covering  the  accounts  of  the  Selectmen  for  the 
three  years,  1688-90. 

In  1709  the  Town  chose  a  committee  "to  Audit  the 
Accounts  of  the  Committee  for  Fortifications  in  the  year 
1706.  And  the  Accounts  of  the  Committee  Appointed 
in  this  present  year  1709  for  repairing  the  Platforms,  etc., 
at  the  South  Battery,  and  also  the  Treasurer's  Accounts 
for  this  present  year."  Beginning  with  1713,  the  annual 
election  of  an  Auditing  Committee,  by  the  Town,  appears 
to  have  been  the  rule. 

The  reports  of  the  Auditing  Committee  down  to  1776, 
as  set  forth  in  the  records,  consisted  of  a  brief  statement 
as  to  the  total  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  year,  and 
the  amount  and  nature  of  the  balance  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  Occasionally  a  special  committee  was  appointed 
on  the  state  of  the  treasury,  or  on  the  accounts  of  the 
collectors  of  taxes  who  were  often  in  arrears. 


178  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

The  records  for  1769  contain  an  elaborate  report  by  a 
Special  Committee  appointed  "To  examine  the  Town 
Treasurer's  Account  .  .  .  and  to  make  a  full  enquiry  into 
the  state  of  the  Town  Treasury  and  Debts  and  Credits 
of  the  Town,  as  also  to  report  the  same  with  what  sum 
or  sums  of  Money  may  be  necessary  to  be  raised  for  the 
ensuing  year  as  a  Town  Tax."  The  Town  voted  to  raise 
£8,000  by  tax,  the  sum  recommended  by  the  Committee, 
to  defray  the  Town's  charges  for  the  ensuing  year.  This 
was  an  innovation.  In  addition  the  Town  chose  five 
persons  to  be  a  "  Standing  Committee  to  inspect  the  state 
of  the  Town  Treasury  from  time  to  time  to  Report  upon 
that  and  other  Money  Matters."  Although  the  committee 
made  another  report  in  1769  it  seems  not  to  have  been 
continued;  but  its  appointment  foreshadowed  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  committee  on  estimates.  In  1770  the 
Auditing  Committee  was  given  enlarged  powers,  being  by 
vote  of  the  Town  "  desired  to  Report  from  time  to  time  a 
state  of  the  Treasury  respecting  the  Debts  and  Credits, 
and  on  any  matters  they  may  think  proper." 

The  report  of  the  Auditing  Committee  presented 
November  27,  1776,  was  unusually  full  and  explicit. 
The  report  showed  a  balance  against  the  Town  of 
£8,181-13-11,  of  which  £7,008  were  for  notes  and  interest 
unpaid.  The  committee  concludes  "When  the  sums 
already  voted  are  borrowed  and  Provisions  made  for  the 
present  year  the  Town  will  be  in  Debt  the  amazing  Sum 
of  £15,681-13-11,  which  there  appears  to  be  no  Fund 
to  discharge." 

In  the  year  1779-80  Boston's  burdens  assumed  por- 
tentous proportions  owing  to  the  demands  made  upon 
her  for  contributions  in  men  and  supplies  for  carrying  on 
the  war  and  to  the  enormous  inflation  of  the   currency. 


Tax  Burden  in  1780.  179 

In  1780  the  taxes  voted  by  the  Town,  mostly  for  loans, 
amounted  to  £1,500,000  in  currency,  or  say  £37,500  in 
specie.  Several  special  committees  in*  addition  to  the 
usual  auditing  committee  were  appointed  in  1781.  One 
was  a  committee  to  give  in  an  estimate  of  the  sum  neces- 
sary for  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  current  year,  and 
to  determine  upon  appropriations  of  the  same.  The 
committee  recommended  a  tax  of  £9,000  in  gold  and 
silver,  etc.,  to  be  appropriated  as  follows:  One-third  to 
discharge  the  drafts  of  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor;  one- 
third  to  discharge  unpaid  drafts  for  1779  and  1780  of  the 
Overseers  and  Selectmen;  and  the  residue,  with  any 
remainder  from  the  other  appropriations,  towards  dis- 
charging the  interest  and  part  of  the  principal  of  the 
debts  of  the  Town.  The  committee  recommended  that 
"the  Treasurer  immediately  open  a  New  set  of  Books  to 
be  kept  in  specie.'7  The  Auditing  Committee  in  1782 
estimated  the  amount  of  the  Town's  debt  at  £20,425 
in  specie. 

The  Committee  on  Estimates  was  continued  in  each  of 
the  years  1783-89.  In  1790  the  Town  directed  the 
Auditing  Committee  to  also  "report  the  sum  Necessary 
to  be  raised  for  the  Services  of  the  Present  Year."  Simi- 
lar votes  were  annually  passed  in  the  period  1791-1812. 
In  1812,  by  a  vote  of  the  Town,  "the  Selectmen,  Over- 
seers of  the  Poor,  and  Members  of  the  Board  of  Health 
were  constituted  a  Committee  of  Finance,  to  superintend 
the  administration  of  the  monied  concerns  of  the  Town." 
By  an  Act  of  1813,  the  Committee  of  Finance  of  Boston 
was  directed  to  annually  appoint  in  June  or  July  a 
Treasurer  and  a  Collector  or  Collectors  of  Taxes.  Accord- 
ingly the  fiscal  affairs  of  Boston,  from  1813  till  1822, 
when  the  Town  was  incorporated  a  city,  were   largely 


180  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

managed  by  the  Committee  of  Finance,  which  issued 
annual  reports  in  print;  and  the  members  of  the  three 
boards,  constituting  the  Committee  of  Finance,  in  annual 
convention,  elected  a  Town  Treasurer  and  a  Collector  of 
Taxes.  During  that  period,  1813-21,  the  person  elected 
Treasurer  was  also  elected  Collector  of  Taxes. 

The  Committee  of  Finance  issued  twelve  annual  reports, 
viz.,  nine  in  the  period  1813-21  and  three  in  the  years 
1822-24.  The  office  of  Auditor  of  Accounts  was  estab- 
lished by  an  ordinance  passed  August  2,  1824.  The 
first  report  of  the  Auditor  of  the  City  of  Boston  appeared 
in  1825.  The  Auditor  has  published  a  report  in  every 
year  since  1825. 

As  a  rule  down  to  1795,  when  it  was  determined  to 
sell  the  sites  of  the  Almshouse,  etc.,  in  The  Common  and 
apply  the  proceeds  towards  the  purchase  of  land  on  Lev- 
erett  street  and  the  erection  of  a  new  Almshouse,  etc., 
public  buildings  were  placed  on  land  belonging  to  the 
Town.  As  a  rule,  too,  public  buildings,  aside  from 
schoolhouses,  were  either  given  to  the  Town,  or  their 
cost  was  largely,  if  not  mainly,  met  by  contributions 
from  public-spirited  citizens.  When  such  contributions 
were  insufficient  they  were  eked  out  by  levying  special 
rates  upon  the  taxpayers,  or  by  establishing  a  lottery, 
e.  g.,  for  the  rebuilding  Faneuil  Hall  in  1762. 

For  150  years  after  its  settlement  Boston's  landed 
possessions  were  so  considerable  and  available  as  to 
render  the  establishment  of  a  funded  debt  unnecessary. 
Although  the  Town  frequently  found  it  difficult  to  meet 
its  current  obligations,  it  was  not  till  1812  that  the  ques- 
tion of  debt  requirements  became  an  urgent  one.  When 
the  Town  became  a  city  in  1822  Boston's  funded  debt 
amounted  to  only  $100,000,  all  incurred  for  county 
buildings,  then  erecting. 


City  Debt  in  1822.  181 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  sums  which  Boston  has 
borrowed  at  interest,  since  its  settlement  in  1630,  has  been 
expended  on  internal  improvements,  viz.,  the  widening 
and  extension  of  old  streets,  the  construction  of  new 
streets,  the  building  of  sewers,  the  filling  in  of  coves  and 
marshes,  and  the  laying  out  of  parks.  Naturally  the 
largest  and  most  expensive  undertakings  for  the  objects 
mentioned,  as  well  as  for  bridges  and  water  works,  have 
been  effected  since  Boston  became  a  city  in  1822.  Since 
the  incorporation  of  the  City  of  Boston  in  that  year, 
Boston  proper  has  been  transformed  in  respect  to  its 
sky  line,  its  ground  plan  and  its  system  of  subterranean 
conveniences. 

The  funded  debt  of  Boston  was  only  $100,000  in 
1822,  when  Boston  became  responsible  for  all  the  debts 
and  expenses  of  the  County  of  Suffolk,  as  it  had  been  for 
fully  nine-tenths  of  them,  during  the  period  1803-21 
when  Boston  and  Chelsea  made  up  the  county. 

The  city  debt  in  1822  was  in  effect  a  county  debt,  as  it' 
had  all  been  incurred  for  county  buildings.  The  infer- 
ence that  the  Town  of  Boston  had  no  experience  in 
incurring  and  providing  for  debt,  because  the  city 
inherited  no  debt  incurred  for  Town  purposes  would 
be  unwarranted.  The  Town  of  Boston  in  the  period 
1630-1821  was  frequently  in  straits  to  meet  its  own  run- 
ning expenses,  not  to  speak  of  its  obligations  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Colony,  Province  and  State.  As  a  rule  the 
Town  defrayed  its  extraordinary  expenditures  out  of 
rates  and  taxes  or  by  the  sale  of  real  estate. 

But  the  borrowings  of  Boston  while  it  was  a  town  were 
mostly  occasioned  by  conditions  of  peril  or  distress, 
e.  g.,  in  1711,  when  the  Town  authorized  a  loan  of  £1,000 
for  making  a  line  of  defence  across  the  Neck;  in  1775, 
when  the  Treasurer  was  directed  to  borrow  £1,000  for 


182  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

one  year  for  the  supply  of  the  Almshouse,  and  £1,018 
to  pay  the  Province  Tax  of  1774;  in  1776,  when  the 
principal  of  the  outstanding  notes  of  the  Town  amounted 
to  £7,029,  and  in  1812,  when  Boston  was  paying  interest 
on  some  $100,000  of  Town  and  County  notes.  But  the 
banner  year  was  1780,  when  the  loans  authorized  by  the 
Town,  mostly  to  meet  requisitions  for  contributions 
towards  carrying  on  the  war,  amounted  to  £1,460,000  in 
Continental  currency,  or  say  £36,500  in  specie. 

As  a  rule  the  cost  of  public  buildings  in  Boston,  prior 
to  the  extension  of  Faneuil  Hall  Market  in  1825,  leaving 
county  buildings  out  of  account,  was  defrayed  by  gifts, 
sales  of  real  estate  and  taxes.  By  leases  and  gifts  to  the 
builders  of  wharves  and  docks  the  Town  had  pretty  much 
lost  control  of  the  waterfront  long  before  it  became  a 
city. 

As  the  Town  was  one  of  the  original  plantations,  the 
demands  for  laying  out  of  streets,  market  place  and  com- 
mons within  the  Neck  were  readily  met  by  allotments  of 
common  land.  The  most  prolific  sources  of  extraordinary 
expenditures  in  early  Boston  were  fortifications  and  the 
relief  of  the  poor. 

The  southernmost  hill  in  Boston  got  its  name  from  the 
fort  whose  erection  was  begun  in  1632.  On  February  23; 
1635,  at  a  general  meeting  upon  public  notice,  it  was 
"  agreed  that  for  the  raising  of  a  new  Worke  of  fortifica- 
tion upon  the  Forthill,  about  that  which  is  there  already 
begun,  the  whole  town  will  bestow  fourteen  days'  work, 
by  equal  proportions.''  Seven  commissioners  were 
authorized  "to  set  down  how  many  days  work  would  be 
equal  for  each  man  to  do,"  and  to  determine  what  sums 
those  who  "were  of  greater  ability  and  had  fewer  servants 
should  pay."  Twelve  of  the  leading  men  lent  £50  to  this 
work. 


Fortifications  1632-46.  183 

In  1636  it  was  ordered  by  the  General  Court 

"That  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  shall  have  the  use  of 
six  pieces  of  ordnance,  and  that  there  shall  be  xxx  lb. 
in  money  given  to  them,  towards  the  making  of  a  platform 
at  the  foot  of  the  Fort  Hill  at  Boston,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  the  said  town  are  to  finish  the  said  work  at  their  own 
charges  before  the  General  Court  in  May  next." 

This  work  was  later  known  as  the  Sconce  or  South 
Battery. 

The  fort  at  Castle  Island,  begun  in  1634,  was  built  and 
maintained  by  the  Country.  In  1639  a  grant  of  500 
acres  at  Mount  Wooliston  was  made  "for  the  use  of  the 
Cannoneer  of  Boston."  The  North  Battery  appears  to 
have  been  started  in  1646,  at  the  instance  and  cost  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  North  End,  "whose  hearts  the  Lord 
hath  made  willing  to  set  about  the  erecting  and  main- 
tenance of  a  fortification  at  Walter  Merry's  Point." 

In  1673,  when  England  was  at  war  with  Holland,  the 
"Councell  of  the  Countrie"  recommended  to  the  Select- 
men of  Boston  the.  erection  of  a  wall  or  wharf  upon  the 
flats  before  the  Town  as  a  protection  "from  fire  ships 
in  case  of  an  enemy."  On  September  5,  1673,  the  Town 
voted:  (1)  Not  to  bear  the  cost  of  the  proposed  work; 
and  (2)  that  the  Selectmen  might  "order  and  dispose 
of  the  flats  before  the  town  for  the  security  of  the  town  as 
they  may  judge." 

Accordingly,  the  Selectmen  drew  up  a  plan  for  a  work 
or  wharf  of  wood  and  stone  to  be  2,200  feet  long,  with 
a  breadth  of  22  feet  at  the  bottom  and  6  feet  high;  to 
extend  from  the  South  Battery  to  Skarlett's  Wharf,  at 
the  North  End.  To  such  of  the  inhabitants  as  should 
undertake  the  work  the  Selectmen  offered  to  convey  the 
flats  between  the  proposed  wall  and  the  town,  with  the 
right  to  build  wharves  and  warehouses  "200  feet  back 


184  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

towards  the  town."  No  man  should  be  allowed  to 
subscribe  or  undertake  for  less  than  20  feet  of  the  wall  or 
wharf.  By  November  11,  1673,  forty-one  sections 
(ranging  from  20  to  150  feet),  amounting  to  1872  feet,  were 
subscribed  for.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Barricado 
or  Outwharf  which  is  shown  on  Sheafe's  map  of  1708. 
The  Barricado,  however,  was  a  much  less  substantial 
structure  than  was  originally  projected.  It  appears  to 
have  consisted  chiefly  of  a  wall  of  upright  piles  or  timbers 
driven  into  the  flats,  without  wharves,  but  with  three  gaps 
in  it  to  afford  passage  to  ships.  Atlantic  avenue,  con- 
structed 1875,  occupies  the  site  of  the  Barricado,  only 
traces  of  which  are  shown  on  Bonner's  map  of  1722. 

In  March,  1696,  the  Town  voted  to  allow  the  payment 
of  £200  (out  of  the  town  rate  of  £500,  granted  that  day) 
towards  repairing  the  fortifications.  But  the  town 
expected  to  be  reimbursed  out  of  the  Province  treasury. 
On  March  8,  1697,  the  Town  voted  to  raise  £500  for  the 
fortification  and  to  buy  powder,  etc.  In  June,  1706,  the 
Town  voted  a  tax  of  £1,000  to  be  laid  out  in  extending 
the  North  Battery;  repairing  the  South  Battery  and  for 
the  fortification  of  the. Neck;  and  a  further  tax  of  £1,000 
was  voted  in  October  of  the  same  year  for  the  same 
purpose. 

In  1711  the  Town  granted  £1,000  for  making  a  line  of 
defence  across  the  Neck  between  Boston  and  Roxbury, 
to  be  borrowed  by  the  Treasurer  from  the  inhabitants; 
and  in  May,  1712,  another  grant  of  £1,000  for  finishing 
the  line  of  defence  on  the  Neck  was  voted. 

In  1733  the  Town  voted  to  raise  £10,000  on  polls  and 
estates  to  defray  the  cost  of  repairing  the  batteries  and 
building  extensive  new  .fortifications  at  Fort  Point  Chan- 
nel and  Long  Wharf.  In  July,  1734,  the  vote  was  recon- 
sidered and  reversed,  although  meanwhile  the  Town  had 


Fortifications  1697-1739.  185 

voted  to  petition  the  General  Court  to  loan  £10,000,  the 
Town  to  be  repaid  in  annual  installments.  Finally,  in 
August,  1734,  the  Town  appropriated  £714,  to  be  raised 
bf  a  tax,  to  defray  expenditures  already  made  on  the 
fortifications. 

In  1739  the  defenceless  state  of  the  Town  and  the 
danger  of  attack  from  the  sea  again  became  an  urgent 
subject.  The  Selectmen  in  a  report,  on  March  10,  1739, 
recommended  that  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  three  town- 
ships (embracing  69,120  acres  in  all),  granted  to  the  Town 
by  the  General  Court  in  1735,  and  sold  for  £3,660  in  1736, 
be  devoted  to  repairing  the  batteries  or  raising  other 
fortifications  as  the  Town  should  judge  necessary.  Just 
a  year  later,  the  Town  chose  a  committee,  consist- 
ing of  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor  and  the  Collectors  of 
Taxes,  to  raise  £20,000  by  subscription  for  "Putting 
the  Town  in  a  proper  Posture  of  Defence." 

Elaborate  plans,  involving  an  expenditure  of  £18,200, 
were  proposed  for  strengthening  the  batteries  and  build- 
ing a  series  of  piers,  and  providing  hulks  to  fill  up  the 
channel  (if  necessary)  between  Castle  William  and 
Governor's  Island. 

In  1742,  after  much  debate  and  considerable  negotia- 
tion, the  Province  granted  £1,000  for  repair  of  the  North 
and  South  Batteries;  and  the  Town  appropriated  the 
residue  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  three  townships 
of  land  to  the  same  purpose.  It  should  be  noted,  that  in 
1741  the  Town  appropriated  £700  out  of  those  proceeds 
to  buying  cord  wood  for  the  supply  of  the  inhabitants. 
It  was  voted  to  sell  the  South  Battery  in  1785,  and  the 
North  Battery  in  1787.  It  does  not  appear  that  an  enemy 
ever  appeared  before  the  batteries  or  the  Barricado  to 
open  fire  upon  them. 

The  first  reference  to  the  poor  of  Boston  occurs  in  the 


186  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

records  of  a  General  Meeting  held  March  23,  1635, 
when  because  "the  wood  upon  the  neck  of  land  towards 
Roxbury  hath  this  last  winter  been  disorderly  cut  up 
and  wasted,  whereby  many  of  the  poor  Inhabitants  are 
disappointed  of  relief  they  might  have  had  there  in  after 
and  needful  times";  it  was  generally  agreed  that  three 
men,  with  the  three  Deacons,  should  "consider  who  have 
been  faulty  herein,  and  set  down  what  restitution  of  Wood 
unto  the  poor  such  shall  make  according  to  their  several 
proportions."     Ten  months  later  the  Town  voted: 

"That  the  poorer  sort  of  the  Inhabitants  such  as  are 
members  or  likely  so  to  be,  and  have  no  Cattle  shall  have 
their  proportion  of  allotments  of  planting  ground,  and 
other  assigned  unto  them  by  the  Allotters,  and  laid  out 
at  Muddy  river." 

The  allotments  were  to  be  four  acres  or  five  per  head 
according  to  their  locations.  In  1639  the  General  Court 
made  it  the  duty  of  the  Town  "to  settle  and  provide  for 
poor  persons."  From  time  to  time  outdoor  aid*  was 
granted  to  various  individuals,  e.  g.,  in  1658,  when  the  town 
treasurer  was  ordered  by  the  Selectmen  to  pay  the  house 
rent  of  Jonathan  Negus  for  that  year.  At  the  same  time 
it  was  ordered  that  the  town  treasurer  should  dispose  of 
a  legacy  of  £15  given  by  William  Paddy  to  the  poor  of 
the  Town.  In  November,  1660,  the  Town  authorized 
the  Selectmen  "to  make  use  of  a  piece  of  ground  in  the 
Common  for  the  erecting  an  almshouse  upon  with  suitable 
accommodations."  It  was  also  ordered  that  a  bequest  of 
100  pounds  from  Mr.  Henry  Webb  be  used  towards 
building  the  Almshouse;  and  Capt.  R.  Keayne's  bequest 
of  "120  pounds  for  the  use  of  the  poor"  was  appropriated 
for  the  same  purpose.  In  1682  the  Almshouse  in  The 
Common  was  destroyed  by  fire.     The  Town  voted  to 


Sale  of  Sites  in  the  Common.  187 

rebuild  it  and  to  provide  a  convenient  stock  and  utensils 
to  employ  persons  that  may  work  there.  It  was  also 
voted  that  the  sum  to  be  raised  by  the  way  of  rate  for  the 
building  and  stock  forementioned  "shall  not  exceed 
1,000  pounds  without  further  advice  of  the  town." 

This  institution,  which  was  sometimes  called  the 
Workhouse,  was  continued  on  its  original  site  at  the  corner 
of  the  present  Beacon  street  until  a  new  Almshouse  was 
opened  in  1800,  on  Leverett  street,  in  the  West  End. 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  a  Bridewell  for  dis- 
orderly and  insane  persons  was  built  in  The  Common 
near  the  Almshouse.  In  1738  a  Workhouse  was  added 
to  the  public  institutions,  in  The  Common,  which  included 
the  Granary  erected  in  1728. 

In  1795  the  Town  voted  to  sell  all  the  land  occupied  by 
the  Almshouse,  Workhouse  and  Granary,  together  with 
"house  lots  in  the  land  opposite  the  mall,"  to  defray  the 
expense  of  purchasing  land  at  Barton's  Point  and  erecting 
thereon  "a  commodious  set  of  buildings  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  sick  and  poor  inhabitants  on  a  plan  to  be 
approved  of  by  the  Selectmen."  Accordingly,  in  the 
period  1796-1816,  the  Town  sold  sites  taken  originally 
from  The  Common  for  more  than  $78,000. 

In  November,  1675,  a  rate  amounting  to  £2,641  "for 
the  occasions  of  the  country  for  the  Indian  War"  was 
committed  to  the  constables  of  Boston.  This  rate,  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  King  Phillip's  War,  appears  to  be 
the  heaviest  rate  that  Boston  was  called  upon  to  raise 
during  the  Colonial  period.  The  relief  of  the  poor  con- 
stituted so  large  a  part  of  the  Town's  occasions  that  it 
came  to  stand  first  in  the  preamble  of  orders  for  raising 
rates  to  meet  current  expenses,  as  for  instance,  in  1698, 
the  Town  voted  that  "a  rate  of  £800  should  be  raised  by 


188  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

the  Selectmen  upon  the  Inhabitants  of  said  town  for  the 
relief  qf  the  poor  and  other  necessary  charges." 

At  the  March  meeting  of  1691  four  gentlemen  were 
chosen  "  Overseers  of  the  Poor"  for  the  year  ensuing. 
This  was  the  first  election  of  Overseers  of  the  Poor  as 
such.  In  1692  the  General  Court  passed  an  Act  defining 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor  of 
Boston  and  other  towns.  The  Overseers  of  the  Poor 
were  incorporated  by  Act  of  Legislature  in  1772.  It 
was  the  first  board  concerned  with  the  conduct  of  the 
Town's  affairs  to  be  formally  constituted  a  corporation. 
The  present  corporation  has  its  own  treasurer  in  whose 
custody  are  various  funds,  mostly  bequests,  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor,  aggregating  $896,056.  At  present  the  Over- 
seers of  the  Poor  have  charge  of  (1)  the  Wayfarers' 
Lodge,  opened  in  1878,  which  gives  free  lodging  to  home- 
less men  who  are  out  of  work.  It  exacts  work  in  its  wood- 
yard  for  meals  furnished;  and  (2)  the  Temporary  Home, 
opened  in  1870,  for  destitute  women  and  children.  One 
of  the  main  reasons  for  first  dividing  the  Town  into 
wards,  in  1712,  seems  to  have  been  to  facilitate  the  adminis- 
tration of  poor  relief  and  the  management  of  idle  and 
disorderly  persons  by  a  Committee  of  Visitation,  consisting 
of  Justices,  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  etc. 

In  1679  Boston  suffered  from  a  conflagration  on  account 
of  which  the  Deputies  to  the  General  Court  were  instructed 
by  the  Town  to  ask  for  an  abatement  of  the  "last  rate  to 
the  country  which  was  above  £800."  The  Deputies  were 
also  instructed  to  seek  legislation,  giving  the  Town  power 

"to  eject  all  such  persons  that  come  from  other  towns  or 
countries  to  reside  here  without  due  and  orderly  admis- 
sions, etc.,  for  want  of  which  power  the  town  is  filled  with 
poor,  idle  and  profane  persons,  which  are  greatly  preju- 
dicial to  the  inhabitants,  and  that  those  Eastern  people 


Growth  of  Poor  Relief,  1679-1780.         189 

arid  others  that  came  hither  for  shelter  and  relief  in  time 
of  War  may  be  removed,  having  been  very  chargeable 
to  the  town  already." 

The  relief  of  the  poor  in  Boston  was  proportionately  more 
burdensome  than  in  any  other  town,  because  of  Boston's 
eminence  as  a  maritime  town  and  because  it  became  a 
favorite  place  of  refuge  in  times  of  distress  and  warfare. 
Thus  in  1742  the  census  takers  of  the  Town  returned  the 
number  of  souls  as  16,382,  not  including  110  in  the  Alms- 
house and  thirty-six  in  the  Workhouse.  They  add  that 
"  there  is  about  1,200  widows  included  in  the  above 
number  of  souls,  one  thousand  whereof  are  in  low  circum- 
stances &  a  great  number  of  other  persons  so  poor  that 
they  are  not  taxed." 

Already  in  1735,  Boston  had  petitioned  the  General 
Court  for  an  abatement  of  its  tax,  because  of  the  decay  of 
trade  and  the  growing  expenses  of  the  Town.  The  cost  of 
maintenance  of  the  poor  in  1734  amounted  to  £2,070 
against  £940  five  years  before.  Of  eighty-eight  persons 
in  the  Almshouse  only  one-third  were  "town  born  chil- 
dren." It  was  suggested  that  the  burden  "  ought  to  be 
proportionally  borne  by  the  Province."  "The  Addi- 
tional Number  of  the  town  inhabitants"  was  claimed  to 
be  ""chiefly  owing  to  the  resort  of  all  sorts  of  poor  people, 
while  the  town  has  no  power  to  repell  or  prevent  the 
growing  evil." 

In  1775,  when  the  Town  was  staggering  under  the 
burdens  caused  by  the  war,  out  of  £60,000  levied  in 
taxes  for  ordinary  expenses,  no  less  than  £16,000,  or  say 
£400  in  specie,  were  for  the  sole  use  of  the  Almshouse. 
Similarly,  in  1780,  £70,000  in  Continental  currency  were 
appropriated  for  the  Almshouse. 

In  March,  1781,  it  was  necessary  to  organize  a  committee 
of  thirty-six,  three  in  each  ward,  to  solicit  subscriptions 


190  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

for  the  Almshouse,  to  be  deducted  from  the  next  taxes  "  to 
prevent  the  opening  of  the  doors  of  the  Almshouse  that 
such  as  may  be  able  may  go  from  door  to  door  seeking 
such  relief  of  their  compassionate  and  Christian  Towns- 
men as  might  save  them  from  perishing." 

Using  the  term  charity  in  a  broad  sense  to  include  the 
various  agencies  of  the  City  for  the  care  and  relief  of 
its  dependent  population,  the  ordinary  expenditures 
of  Boston  for  charity  in  the  year  1914-15  amounted 
to  $1,199,149  (exclusive  of  $892,801  for  hospitals),  viz., 
(1)  Children's  Institutions,  $117,948;  (2)  Reform  School, 
$76,203;  (3)  Infirmaries,  $224,772;  (4)  Lodging  Houses, 
$20,714;  (5)  Out-door  relief  by  Overseers,  $484,018;  and 
(6)  Miscellaneous,  $275,494. 

According  to  the  last  Federal  Census,  there  were 
in  1910  eighteen  cities  in  the  United  States  having 
300,000  or  more  inhabitants.  Among  them  Boston, 
with  a  population  of  670,585,  ranked  fifth.  In  1912, 
the  town  of  Hyde  Park,  which  had  15,507  inhabitants 
in  1910,  was  annexed  to  Boston.  The  Massachusetts 
Census  as  of  April  1,  1915,  found  745,439  persons  within 
the  present  limits  of  Boston. 

The  first  enumeration  of  the  population  of  Boston  was 
made  by  the  town  in  1722,  when  10,567  persons  were 
found  after  844  had  died  of  smallpox.  By  1750  the 
population  had  increased  to  15,730.  Governor  Gage's 
census  of  1775  reported  6,573  inhabitants  in  the  town, 
and  the  Provincial  Census  of  1776  found  only  2,719. 
By  1790,  when  the  first  Federal  Census  was  taken,  Boston 
had  a  population  of  18,320.  In  1822  Boston  was  incor- 
porated as  a  city  with  an  estimated  population  of  46,226. 
Its  population  as  a  town  was  43,298  in  1820,  of  whom 
more  than  nine-tenths  were  found  in  Boston  proper,  i.e., 
within  the  limits  of  the  original  settlement  of  1630. 


Annexed  Territoey  of  Boston. 


191 


Perhaps  the  peninsula  of  Shawmut  taken  up  by  the 
original  settlers  of  Boston  in  the  late  summer  of  1630 
contained  750  acres  of  hard  land.  Through  the  filling  in 
of  coves  and  flats  and  the  extension  of  the  shore  line 
the  area  of  Boston  proper  has  increased  to  1,904  acres, 
or  6.9  per  cent  of  the  land  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  city.  The  most  extensive  reclamation  schemes,  as 
well  as  the  largest  additions  of  annexed  territory,  were 
effectuated  during  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1800  the 
total  area  of  land  in  Boston  amounted  to  2,218  acres,  of 
which  783  acres  were  in  Boston  proper  and  1,435  acres 
in  territory  annexed  since  1630,  or  35.3  and  64.7  per  cent, 
respectively. 

Most  of  the  annexed  territory  of  present  Boston  was 
acquired  in  the  period  1868-74. 

The  acreage  of  annexed  districts  since  1630,  when 
annexed,  is  shown  approximately  in  the  following  state- 
ment. 

Acres  of  Land  Annexed  to  Boston  Proper. 


Acres. 

Per  Cent. 

1632-37    .... 

1,435 

5.9 

1804-55    .... 

795 

3.3 

1868-74    .... 

19,213 

79.0 

1912 

2,869 
.      24,312 

11.8 

Total 

100.0 

Present  land  in  Boston,  27,684  acres. 

Fully  89.6  per  cent  of  the  present  territory  of  the 
City  of  Boston  was  settled  originally  in  1629  or  in  1630. 
Six  several  municipalities  have  been  merged  by  acts 
of  annexation  with  Boston  proper,  viz.,  the  cities  of 
Charlestown  and  Roxbury  and  the  towns  of  Dorchester, 
West  Roxbury,  Brighton  and  Hyde  Park.  Charlestown 
was  settled  in  1629,  and  the  others,  except  Hyde  Park,  in 


192  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

1630.  West  Roxbury,  till  it  was  set  off  as  a  separate  town 
in  1851,  was  a  part  of  Roxbury,  while  Brighton,  till  it 
became  a  town  in  1807,  was  a  part  of  Cambridge. 

Yet  the  fact  remains  that  the  Boston  town  meeting 
in  1639  held  sway  over  more  acres  of  land  by  more  than 
15,000  than  are  included  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
city  government  to-day,  owing  to  the  fact  that  most 
of  the  territory  granted  by  the  General  Court  to  Boston 
"for  its  enlargement"  in  the  period  1634-37  was,  in 
the  period  1639-1739,  set  off  from  Boston  to  form  separate 
towns,  e.  g.,  Braintree  in  1640;  Brookline  in  1705,  and 
Chelsea  in  1739,  whereby  Boston  lost  approximately 
41,000  acres  of  its  outlying  possessions. 

Broadly  considered,  the  ninety  odd  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  Boston  adopted  city  government  may  be 
characterized  as  a  period  of  internal  improvements 
throughout  the  United  States.  Every  organ  of  govern- 
ment, national,  state  and  local  has  been  brought  into  play 
to  meet  the  ever  changing  conditions  of  a  young  and 
undeveloped  country.  In  the  interval  the  processes  and 
machinery  of  municipal  housekeeping  have  been  revolu- 
tionized as  well  as  those  of  warfare,  agriculture,  transpor- 
tation, industry  and  commerce.  On  the  whole,  the  govern- 
mental machinery  of  the  nation  and  the  several  States 
has  been  less  radically  transformed  and  has  stood  the 
strain  better  than  that  of  the  urban  communities  as  a  class. 

As  a  city,  Boston  has  not  attained  the  rank  which  it 
relinquished  when  it  ceased  to  be  a  town.  Peerless  as  a 
town,  it  entered  a  new  class  of  competitors  when  it 
became  a  city.  It  has  had  to  re-form  itself  in  the  face  of 
the  multifarious  and  perplexing  problems  which  have 
beset  American  cities,  both  old  and  new,  ever  since  the 
first  third  of  the  last  century. 


Boston  as  a  City.  193 

Among  its  compeers,  Boston  is  admitted  to  be  eminent, 
but  not  preeminent.  It  has  borne  well  its  part  and 
achieved  distinction  in  education,  in  letters,  in  art  and 
science,  as  well  as  in  enterprise  and  wealth.  But  it  is 
hardly  likely  that  any  city  will  soon,  if  ever,  occupy  so 
dominant  a  position  among  the  cities  of  the  Union  as 
Boston  once  held  among  its  towns. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  American  cities  are  less  highly 
developed  than  their  elder  sisters  of  the  Old  World,  when 
one  considers  how  meagre  and  amorphous  was  the  body 
of  urban  tradition  anywhere  in  the  United  States,  when 
the  chief  centers  of  population  became  congested  from 
the  influx  of  domestic  and  foreign  immigrants,  and  how 
many  novel  and  unforeseen  practical  problems  city  authori- 
ties have  had  to  grapple  with  in  their  rather  frantic 
attempts  to  keep  pace  with  the  discoveries  of  science  and 
the  improvements  in  technology  and  engineering,  which 
have  been  made  during  the  last  hundred  years.  The 
portentous  growth  in  urban  population  since  the  early 
decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  caused  a  tremendous 
increase  in  the  volume  and  cost  of  city  business.  It  is 
worthy  of  note  that,  in  1915,  the  ordinary  expenditures 
of  Boston  were  36.432  millions  of  dollars  against  19.954 
of  the  Commonwealth.  Even  more  staggering  and  unex- 
ampled has  been  the  increase  in  the  complexity  of  munic- 
ipal administration  owing  to  the  variety  and  number  of 
new  objects  of  expenditure,  both  ordinary  and  extraor- 
dinary. 

Some  inkling  as  to  changed  conditions  in  urban  com- 
munities brought  about  merely  by  the  growth  of  popula- 
tion is  afforded  by  such  facts  as  these:  (1)  the  estimated 
population  of  New  York  City  as  of  January  1,  1916,  viz., 
5,597,982,  exceeds  by  597,982  the  enumerated  population 


194  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

of  the  United  States  in  1800;  and  is  upwards  of  two  and  a 
half  millions  more  than  the  population  of  the  Union 
according  to  the  census  of  1790;  (2)  Boston's  population 
of  745,439,  according  to  the  census  of  1915,  exceeds  by 
222,157  the  population  of  Massachusetts  in  1820.  More- 
over, the  composition  of  the  population  has  been  vastly 
changed  in  the  interim.  Thus,  the  census  of  1910  showed 
that  35.9  per  cent  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  were 
foreign-born  whites;  and  that  74.2  per  cent  were  of  foreign 
white  stock  or  parentage.  Of  the  total  population,  60.72 
per  cent  were  derived  from  the  following  principal  sources, 
viz.,  England,  3.90;  Ireland,  26.49;  Italy,  7.42;  Russia, 
9.58;  Canada,  13.33  (0.89  French,  and  12.44  from  Other 
Canada) . 

But  such  facts  are  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the 
changes  wrought  in  city  housekeeping  by  the  introduc- 
tion, since  1820,  of  illuminating  gas,  electric  lighting, 
street  cars,  tunnels,  water  works,  sewerage  works,  free 
bridges,  public  hospitals,  public  parks,  night  schools  and 
free  text  books, —  not  to  speak  of  modern  improvements 
in  street  paving,  street  cleaning,  the  disposal  of  garbage, 
and  the  conservation  of  the  public  health.  Yet  in  1915, 
the  city  and  county  officials  of  Boston  numbered  only 
15,056,  while  those  of  the  Commonwealth  numbered 
25,065. 

The  history  of  the  city  government  of  Boston  reflects 
the  same  general  conditions  that  have  influenced  the 
growth  and  expansion  of  the  other  large  cities  of  the  coun- 
try. It  has  been  marked  by  many  experiments,  based 
upon  "happy  thoughts"  and  by  tentative  measures  which 
were  often  halting  compromises.  As  in  most  of  the  great 
cities  of  the  country,  development  has  not  kept  pace  with 
growth;  as  it  has  been  well-nigh  impossible  to  adapt  or 


THE     FIRST     ROMAN     CATHOLIC     CATHEDRAL    IN     NEW     ENGLAND, 
WITH     FEDERAL     STREET    CHURCH     IN     BACKGROUND. 


It  was  situated   on    Franklin    Street. 


The  First  City  Charter,  1822.  195 

readjust  governmental  machinery  which  was  adequate 
and  effective  in  a  semi-rural  community  to  meet  modern 
metropolitan  conditions,  involving  a  congested  popula- 
tion, increasingly  made  up  of  aliens.  Boston,  like  most 
other  large  American  cities,  is  still  in  the  process  of  transi- 
tion, but  is  groping  its  way  towards  the  light  of  a  better 
day,  when  it  is  to  be  hoped  civic  righteousness  shall 
prevail  over  short-sighted  and  selfish  politics,  in  state 
houses,  as  well  as  in  city  halls,  throughout  the  land. 

The  city  government  instituted  in  1822  differed  most 
radically  from  the  town  government  of  1821,  in  that  the 
government  of  the  city  was  vested  in  a  mayor  and  city 
council.  The  city  council,  consisting  of  two  legislative 
boards,  took  the  place  of  the  town  meeting;  but  it  also 
had  large  administrative  and  executive  powers.  The 
mayor  and  aldermen  constituted  the  upper  chamber,  and 
the  common  council,  consisting  of  48  members,  4  being 
chosen  in  and  for  each  ward,  constituted  the  lower 
chamber.  The  mayor  and  8  aldermen  were  chosen  at 
large.  As  in  the  town,  so  in  the  city,  ward  officers,  con- 
sisting of  a  warden,  clerk,  and  inspectors  of  elections,  were 
chosen  in  each  ward;  their  functions  being  to  conduct 
elections. 

The  mayor  ex  officio  presided  over  the  meetings  of  the 
board  of  aldermen,  and  appointed  their  committees.  The 
committees  of  the  common  council  were  appointed  by  the 
president  of  that  board,  which,  besides  choosing  its  own 
president,  chose  its  own  clerk.  The  city  clerk,  chosen 
by  the  city  council,  acted  as  recording  officer  for  the  mayor 
and  board  of  aldermen.  Certain  of  the  old  boards  were 
given  a  place  in  the  new  scheme  of  government,  viz., 
the  school  committee,  the  overseers  of  the  poor,  and  the 
fire  wards;  but  the  powers  of  the  old  board  of  health  were 


196  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

vested  in  the  city  council.  The  city  treasurer  and  the 
city  clerk,  like  the  city  auditor,  whose  office  was  established 
in  1824,  were  chosen  by  the  city  council.  In  the  course 
of  a  few  years,  the  fire  wards  were  abolished,  and  a  fire 
department  was  organized  in  their  stead.  A  thoroughly 
organized  police  department,  under  the  management 
of  a  commission  did  not  emerge  till  1878. 

It  is  probably  fair  to  say  that  the  new  city  government 
was  intended  to  involve  as  little  departure  as  possible 
from  the  framework  and  conceptions  of  the  old  govern- 
ment of  the  town.  The  charter  even  contained  a  provi- 
sion for  the  summoning  by  the  aldermen,  under  certain 
conditions,  of  "  general  meetings  "■  for  the  consideration  of 
the  common  good,  and  giving  instructions  to  the  city 
council.  It  was  in  such  "city  meetings"  that  the  ques- 
tion of  water  supply  was  debated  for  many  years.  Such 
meetings  appear  to  have  ceased  in  the  early  forties.  It 
may  be  noted  that  40  years  later,  statutory  provisions  for 
the  holdings  of  such  meetings  are  found. 

The  charter  of  1822  provided  for  representation  of  the 
several  wards.  Thus,  in  each. of  the  ward  meetings,  there 
were  chosen  annually,  4  common  councilmen;  3  fire  wards; 
an  overseer  of  the  poor,  and  a  member  of  the  school 
committee.  The  newly  organized  city  had  no  general 
system  of  sewers,  no  public  water  supply,  no  city  engineer, 
no  city  solicitor  or  corporation  counsel,  and  only  an 
inchoate  police  department.  The  mayor,  though  titu- 
larly  the  chief  executive  officer,  was  to  a  large  extent,  a 
figure  head. 

One  outstanding  characteristic  of  the  city  government 
of  Boston  under  its  first  charter  may  be  emphasized, 
namely,  the  extent  to  which  the  administrative  business 
of  the  city  was  intrusted  to  joint  committees  made  up  of 


Present  Government  of  Boston.  197 

members  of  the  board  of  aldermen  and  the  common 
council.  This  feature  was  also  strongly  marked  in  the 
government  of  Boston  under  the  so-called  new  charter  of 
1854  and  the  revised  charter  of  1885,  although  under  the 
latter  instrument  the  joint  committees  were  somewhat 
shorn  of  the  powers  they  had  formerly  exercised  in  the 
matter  of  the  employment  of  labor  and  the  making  of 
contracts. 

Viewed  objectively,  and  in  the  large,  the  government 
of  Boston  as  a  city,  in  contrast  with  its  government  as  a 
town,  has  been  subjected  to  an  unusual  amount  of  tinker- 
ing. Genuine  development,  as  the  result  of  purposive 
experimentation,  is  discernible,  but  that  development 
has  been  less  natural  and  orderly  than  was  the  develop- 
ment of  the  government  of  the  town  as  such.  Moreover, 
the  General  Court  allowed  the  town  a  larger  measure  of 
home  rule  than  it  has  accorded  to  the  city. 

The  present  government  of  the  City  of  Boston  differs 
in  many  respects  from  that  which  was  organized  in  1822 
under  the  first  charter.  Notwithstanding  the  greatly 
augmented  number  of  departments  which  have  come 
into  being  since  1822,  the  general  structure  of  the  present 
government,  consisting  of  the  mayor  and  city  council  of 
9  members  elected  at  large,  is  much  simpler  than  it  was 
down  to  1909.  Still,  it  must  be  said  that  the  present 
scheme  of  government  presents  some  excrescences,  e.  g., 
the  police  department,  whose  official  head  is  appointed 
by  the  Governor;  the  licensing  board,  which  controls  the 
issuing  of  licenses  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor 
within  the  city,  all  of  whose  members  are  appointed  by 
the  Governor;  and  the  finance  commission,  also  appointed 
by  the  Governor.  The  latter  is  an  advisory  board, 
established   under   the   amended   charter   of   1909.     No 


198  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

other  city  in  Massachusetts  is  in  the  same  class  as  Boston 
in  these  respects.  Moreover,  the  heads  of  departments, 
appointed  by  the  mayor,  are  subject  to  approval  by  the 
Massachusetts  Civil  Service  Commission,  which  also  is 
charged  with  the  duty  week  by  week,  and  month  by 
month,  of  approving  the  pay  rolls  of  the  City  of  Boston. 

These  peculiar  features  of  the  present  government  of 
Boston  bespeak  the  policy  of  the  Legislature  to  restrict  and 
meddle  with  the  municipality  to  an  extent  which  does 
not  obtain  with  regard  to  the  other  36  cities  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. It  would  appear  that  Boston  has  been 
singled  out  for  the  limitation  of  its  home  rule  on  grounds 
of  political  expediency,  rather  than  those  of  enlightened 
statesmanship. 

Another  policy  which  has  developed  since  1822  is 
that  of  denying  the  citizens  of  Boston  the  right  to  vote 
upon  amended  charters;  so  that  it  is  now  true  that 
Boston  is  practically  the  only  city  in  the  Commonwealth 
that  is  debarred  from  that  privilege. 

Numerous  acts  of  legislature  have  been  passed  from 
time  to  time,  authorizing  the  institution  of  new  adminis- 
trative departments  or  the  re-organization  of  old  ones. 
But  the  years  1854,  1885  and  1909  stand  out  as  those  in 
which  comprehensive  attempts  were  made  to  revise  or 
amend  the  structure  of  the  city  government. 

In  1854  the  city  charter  was  revised  by  an  act  of  the 
General  Court,  which  down  to  1884,  was  commonly 
known  as  the  new  charter.  It  did  not  essentially  change 
the  organization  of  the  city  government,  although  under 
it  the  mayor  had  rather  more  power  than  under  the  first 
charter.  Administrative  control  was  still  largely  left  in 
the  hands  of  committees  of  the  city  council.  In  1885, 
the  character  of  the  city  government  was  considerably 
changed  by  an  act  of  legislature,  that  sought  to  con- 


Development  of  City  Government,  1822-1909.  199 

centrate  more  power  and  responsibility  in  the  hands  of 
the  mayor.  This  act  was  not  referred  to  the  voters  of 
Boston  as  the  earlier  charters  had  been.  It  gave  power 
to  the  mayor  to  remove,  as  well  as  to  appoint,  heads  of 
departments.  His  veto  was  strengthened,  and  he  was 
empowered  to  disapprove  any  order  of  the  city  council, 
and  to  disapprove  items  in  loan  and  appropriation  orders, 
subject  to  passage  over  his  veto  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
the  city  council.  He  was  relieved  from  presiding  over 
the  meetings  of  the  aldermen  and  the  school  committee. 
The  control  of  the  police  was  taken  from  the  city  and 
vested  in  a  commission,  appointed  by  the  Governor.  At 
present,  the  police  department  is  managed  by  a  single 
commissioner. 

It  would  be  a  tedious  and  not  very  informing  task  to 
trace  the  increase  in  the  number  and  the  transformation 
in  character  of  the  departments  since  1822.  Re-organ- 
ization and  consolidation  have  played  a  great  part  in 
their  history  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  but  they  have 
been  effected  largely  by  piece  meal,  and  by  rather  hap- 
hazard measures. 

Certain  general  tendencies  in  the  development  of  the 
city  government  of  Boston  since  1822  may  be  noted. 
The  most  outstanding  are:  (1)  the  tendency  to  concen- 
trate power  and  responsibility  in  the  hands  of  the  mayor 
and  to  make  him  more  and  more  the  executive  head  of 
the  government;  (2)  to  cut  down  the  number  and  powers 
of  the  legislative  department  of  the  government.  This 
policy  culminated  in  1909  in  the  abolition  of  the  board  of 
13  aldermen,  who  were  elected  at  large,  and  of  the  common 
council,  which  then  numbered  75,  three  being  elected  from 
each  of  the  25  wards ;  (3)  the  tendency  to  remove  depart- 
ment administration  from  the  interference  or  control 
of  the  city  council. 


200  Boston  and  Its  Story. 

Probably  no  son  of  Boston  looms  larger  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world  than  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  Certainly  none 
of  her  sons  has  equaled  Emerson  as  an  interpreter  of 
Boston  and  its  story.     Hear  him! 

"  This  town  of  Boston  has  a  history  ...  Its  annals 
are  great  historical  lines,  inextricably  national;  part  of  the 
history  of  political  liberty.  .  .  .  America  is  growing 
like  a  cloud,  towns  on  towns,  States  on  States;  and  wealth 
(always  interesting,  since  from  wealth  power  cannot  be 
divorced)  is  piled  in  every  form  invented  for  comfort  or 
pride.  .  .  .  Moral  values  become  also  money  values. 
When  men  saw  that  these  people,  besides  their  industry 
and  thrift,  had  a  heart  and  soul  and  would-  stand  by  each 
other  at  all  hazards,  they  desired  to  come  and  live  here. 
A  house  in  Boston  was  worth  as  much  again  as  a  house 
just  as  good  in  a  town  of  timorous  people,  because  here 
the  neighbors  would  defend  each  other  against  bad  gov- 
ernors and  against  troops;  quite  naturally  house  rents 
rose  in  Boston.  Besides,  youth  and  health  like  a  stirring 
town,  above  a  torpid  place  where  nothing  is  doing.  In 
Boston  they  were  sure  to  see  something  going  forward 
before  the  year  was  out.  For  here  was  the  moving 
principle  itself,  the  primum  mobile,  a  living  mind  agita- 
ting the  mass  and  always  afflicting  the  conservative  class 
with  some  odious  novelty  or  other;  a  new  religious  sect, 
a  political  point,  a  point  of  honor,  a  reform  in  education, 
a  philanthropy.  .  .  .  There  never  was  wanting  some 
thorn  of  dissent  and  innovation  and  heresy  to  prick  the 
sides  of  conservatism.  .  .  .  Here  stands  today  as  of 
yore  our  little  city  of  the  rocks;  here  let  it  stand  forever, 
on  the  manbearing  granite  of  the  North.  Let  her  stand 
fast  by  herself.  She  has  grown  great.  She  is  filled  with 
strangers,  but  she  can  only  prosper  by  adhering  to  her 
faith.  Let  every  child  that  is  born  of  her  and  every  child 
of  her  adoption  see  to  it  to  keep  the  name  of  Boston  as 
clean  as  the  sun;  and  in  distant  ages  her  motto  shall  be 
the  prayer  of  millions  on  all  the  hills  that  gird  the  town, 
1  As  with  our  Fathers,  so  God  be  with  us.'  Sicut  Patribus, 
Sit  Deus  Nobis! " 


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